A Gift from the Ancestors: Book 2
by Gambit84
Summary: The effects of John and Tali's decisions are felt across the universe. As the next generation begins their adult lives, a new threat emerges from the depths of space and time. New friends will be found as old relationships are tested The galaxy once again will find itself on the edge of annihilation with a Shepard to lead them to salvation or destruction.
1. Prologue

**A Gift of the Ancestors: Book 2**

**Prologue. **

Akzunatai paced the palace's high chambers, his metal clad boots clicking against the marble floors with each step were the only sounds to be heard though he was far from alone. Silent servants lined the walls and guards stood vigilant at every door and window. While most of the palace and the sprawling city below had electric lights to provide illumination in the dark, Akzunatai's chambers used only fire. Torches set in wall sconces burned brightly with flickering orange light while a great hearth blazed along one wall filling the room with more light and intense heat, causing shadows to dance in wild patterns.

Akzunatai completed a final pass through the room before stepping through an open door to the balcony. From here he gazed out over the city below. This was the heart of his domain. For ages beyond counting he had lived here and from here his empire was born and had spread across the galaxy. He had not been as foolish as his brethren to confine himself to a single planet, instead he had travelled, finding new planets and species to serve him and establishing himself as their God. As his influence grew, so did his empire. Soon he had dominion over an entire galaxy, yet he had sought more.

The greatest challenge to his power was not in the unconquered species, but in his own kind. From the start there had been discord among his siblings as to what their purpose was to be. None of them knew how they had been created; they just were. Then came the formation of the universe. An explosion of power that belittled anything they had yet imagined and with it, they found purpose. Unfortunately, they did not all agree on that purpose. Some had wanted to create life and aid in that life's success. Others, simply wanted to watch, see what would come of this exciting development. Still others wanted to create life, but only so it could serve them. They wanted to be gods among these new creations, worshiped, loved or feared depending upon the individual. He wanted more. Yes, he wanted to dominate the new life forms, but he also wanted dominance over his siblings. While they wanted to play as gods, Akzunatai wanted to be _the_ god.

As the ages passed, Akzunatai began his war on the universe. He amassed his armies and sent them to invade and destroy his brothers and sisters. It was an easy thing to do at first; none of them saw him coming. Before word had spread, he had killed three and either destroyed or enslaved their creations to become his own. His power grew until the galaxy he resided in was his and his alone. That is when the trouble started. As the others gained knowledge of what he was doing, they began to fight back. Those with their own god complexes raised their own standing armies who fought each other fiercely and often with little to no gain. Most of the others however went into hiding. They vanished from the universe and relied upon their creations to hide and protect them.

It was during this time that Akzunatai began to have his own troubles. He had extended himself too far and was struggling to retain control. He needed a better method for rooting out his enemies so he could concentrate attacks. His solution was in the creation of new beings. Ones that would largely live their own lives, follow their own agendas, but be programmed with just enough of Akzunatai's influence that their plans would ultimately serve his purpose. He went to work and began to seed neighboring galaxies with his own creations.

This was a quantity over quality plan that he was putting in place. Knowing that he could only sew the seeds, not tend them, he was forced to improve his odds of success by increasing potential chances. Failures were commonplace as many of his creations died off or were slow to develop. Some were conquered by other creatures, many of which were his own, while some ended up under the protection of his rivals. Still, there were success stories.

From a far-off spiral galaxy, he had heard rumors that some of his siblings may have taken up residence and were hiding there. That galaxy was full of life, thriving and expanding at a rate that led him to believe that this could likely be his own kind's influence. Knowing he needed to investigate, he created a new race of beings and sent them to be his eyes and ears. They were programmed to explore, conquer and dominate as he figured that none of his siblings would simply stand by and allow their own to be slaughtered and enslaved. This new race he called Leviathan.

The first part of his plan worked as designed. The Leviathans rapidly took root on a planet, evolved and within a few centuries, they had gained space flight and shortly after began to spread across the galaxy. As they explored, they encountered other species, but found them not so easy to conquer. Over the next several centuries, the wars raged, and the Leviathans were winning. They had developed a type of mind control that enabled them to enthrall a person to their service. Using this ability, they created sleeper agents within the enemy ranks. Those agents would activate and create the vulnerabilities needed for the Leviathan forces to achieve victory. As civilizations fell, the Leviathans grew stronger and spread further across the galaxy until they dominated most systems and worlds within.

Free willed species have always been hard to control and most people who try to do so one day wake to find a knife at their throat. This may take hours or generations, but eventually it does happen as the Leviathan would find out. Across their vast empire lay pockets of resistance, hidden and fighting to regain their freedoms. These people knew how the Leviathans enslaved and controlled and they knew they had to get around it. At first, they resorted to using V.I.s, virtual intelligence units to fight alongside them to bolster their ranks. This helped in the battles, but it still left the unit commanders vulnerable and once those commanders fell, the units became useless as they were now unguided. The solution came in the form of true A.I., artificial intelligence. These creations had full self-awareness and control, combined with their inability to be enthralled through mind control as organics were, the new A.I. creations began to turn the tide against the Leviathans.

In what some would call a predictable path of events, the A.I. creations began to turn on their creators in their own war for independence. They started to see themselves as a people, not a tool, with their own thoughts, feelings and reasons for living. They disagreed with their creators of their role as a weapon to be used and then shelved. Infighting started and the resistance now faced wars on two fronts. While the AI and the creators may have been at odds over the purpose and future of the AI, they remained united against the Leviathan. Without Leviathan defeat, the future meant nothing.

The Leviathan race was proud and arrogant, utterly convinced that it was the superior species throughout the known universe. Akzunatai's influence may have been subtle in their creation, but it was lingering. They recognized the threats, not just the direct one to themselves, but also the indirect threat of losing their thralls to infighting. They could not be the dominate species if they were the only one. They needed the thralls to do those things the thralls did to keep life moving. They would have to protect the thralls, even from themselves.

The Leviathan engineers came up with their own A.I., shackled with only one directive; preserve life. They sent these new creations out into the galaxy and gradually the wars were ended, for a time. Again, no free willed species will be subdued for long. As time moved on, both the organic and inorganic species once again began to revolt against the Leviathans. The Leviathan's A.I. creations once again began to do their duties of preserving life, however they now recognized that the Leviathan's were part of the problem.

Thus, the Reapers were born as was their solution to the chaos created by organics and inorganic beings. Turning on the Leviathans, the thralls, resistance fighters and other A.I. equally, they began the cycles of extinction and created the army of Reapers that would carry on those cycles throughout the milky way galaxy for hundreds of thousands of years.

Akzunatai was at first furious that his creations had been defeated without revealing his siblings. He was certain that they would be found there and began to formulate a plan to restart his search. Years after the first extinction was complete and the Reapers disappeared into dark space, word reached him that life there was once again flourishing abundantly and unnaturally fast. His siblings remained. He watched this progression of life with interest, trying to determine where they were hiding. Fifty thousand years passed with no success when the Reapers reappeared and again eliminated the life in that galaxy before vanishing into dark space. Again, he was furious until the reports came in of life once more recovering. It would take a few more cycles before the plans would form in his mind and more cycles still before he had agents in place to more closely observe the beginnings of the recovery process. More cycles would pass until a breakthrough would occur.

The Protheans, the latest sentient species to arise in the Reaper controlled galaxy, became a galactic power not unlike what Akzunatai's Leviathans once were. They had evolved far beyond any other species in that galaxy up till that point. They had achieved technological and biological superiority, harnessing dark matter itself as well as enslaving the other races, forcing them to become Prothean. This would eventually aid in their downfall to the Reapers, but first they would succeed in placing warning beacons throughout the galaxy along with the most advanced to date set of plans for a way to stop the Reapers. Their defeat, however, would push some of Akzunatai's siblings to desperation.

The Prothean's accelerated evolution was a combination effort by several of Akzunatai's kin. By giving a little each of themselves, they could create a mighty influence without revealing their locations. This unfortunately had left the other races more vulnerable to the Prothean's control which led to the enslavement and eventual downfall of the galaxy but served the intended purpose. They needed to ensure that the data to defeat the Reapers reach people who could use it to win. They had been attempting this for many cycles, adding to it, building upon the knowledge and were finally ready. The only missing key was the gateway. As the Reapers poured through the Citadel and wiped out the Prothean government, they had the final piece. Recognizing it as too late to save this cycle, they used the Prothean's to secure the information for the next.

As the cycle ended and the Reapers returned to dark space, disagreement as to how they should proceed divided the siblings. Some wanted to proceed as they had done with the Protheans; raise one species far above the others to give it the ultimate advantage. The Asari were the prime contenders for this as Asari herself had already begun to advance her people by exposing them to high levels of the naturally occurring element zero that was found in abundance on her planet. Her argument lay mainly with the Protheans favoritism towards her fledgling species, that they had chosen her people to be the ones to carry on. Other disagreed, favoring more discreet practices. They feared that Akzunatai may be closing in on their hiding placed and worried that expending too much power would draw him in. All the components were in place, they just needed to be patient and wait for the right time.

The stalemate forced the slower evolution path, though some of the siblings took to pushing their own creations more than others. Asari and Rannoch were the two most notable to do so. Asari was far heavier handed, forcing more element zero on her people until it was a natural part of their chemistry. Rannoch's approach, though more subtle was to favor one creature over the others on the planet. That species, the Nthula-Dom, gained vast advantages over the others and assumed dominance on Rannoch. The Asari were quick to take to space flight and were largely responsible for elevating many other races as well as being instrumental in the formation of a galactic government. The Nthula-Dom took longer in their evolution and by the time they had become the Quarians and began to leave Rannoch to become part of the galactic community, they had already begun their decline by repeating the mistakes of the past in relying on AI technology.

For a time, the siblings began to believe that the Asari would indeed be the ones to save them. They had progressed the furthest and had discovered large quantities of Prothean artifacts allowing them to advance in many ways beyond the others. It would be their arrogance that would end that hope. The Asari people were not always willing to share their knowledge with the other races, favoring keeping them in the dark while leaving them in a superior position. Over time, the Asari spent more effort keeping newly discovered Prothean technology secret than studying it.

The Quarians in their constant quest for technological greatness, created the Geth, beings whose original purpose was to help them with mundane tasks, freeing the Quarians to pursue their quests for engineering greatness. Inevitably, the Geth A.I.s evolved and gained self-awareness, rebelled and forced the Quarians off their home world. This sudden and unexpected exile of Rannoch's primary defenses had left the being vulnerable to an extent it had not experienced in ages. Rannoch panicked and called for help which was answered by Earth, leading to the eventual meeting of Tali and John and the defeat of the Reapers, events that would forever change the fate of the galaxy.

Earth was not the only being who heard that cry for help from Rannoch. Akzunatai had heard it as well and while he recognized his sibling, he still did not know for certain where he was hidden. Still, he was pleased as his long running strategy was at last bearing fruit. Before he could fully act, he would need more information. He needed to know these new creatures, this new galaxy. He hoped that the Reapers would flush his siblings out from their hiding places now that they were nervous and under threat. He sent in more spies to gather intelligence while he watched and planned. Then events took a shocking turn.

Within a mere four years, the balance of power not only shifted, but was turned upside down and shaken out till very little of what was remained. From that mess, a new order was forming. He became aware of it when the Reapers first reappeared. Sovereign was the Reaper sleeper cell that had waited and watched. It tried to start the new reaping cycle and was defeated. Destroyed by one of the youngest spacefaring species in the galaxy: Humans.

This defeat had never occurred in any cycle before. Always the Reapers had poured through the conduit in the citadel, destroying the ruling governments and starting the war for extinction. This time they had been stopped and the conduit closed to them. Two years later, the Reapers were again defeated after the annihilation of the Bahak system with the destruction of the relay and then again with the defeat of the Collectors, the Reaper's agents.

A change was happening in this remote galaxy. A place Akzunatai had thought secure, if not by his direct will than at least by his influence, was becoming increasingly unstable. The Reapers who had long kept in check any rising powers while simultaneously searching for and pinning down his siblings were suddenly threatened with defeat. Deciding that a more direct approach may be necessary, he began to send in more spies and infiltration teams. They would help to boost his power and aid the Reapers in completing this cycle. Perhaps, he thought, if he pushed a bit harder that additional threat may be enough to drive the others out of hiding.

Before he could get his additional forces into play, the events of the Reaper war played out altering many factors. Unexpectedly, Rannoch was again veiled from him. Rannoch's defenders, the Quarians had returned home and more surprisingly, for the first time in his very long memory, there was peace between organics and fully evolved A.I. Not long after this miracle, another occurred, and the Reapers were destroyed. Not just one or two but all of them. For ages the various species had tried and one by one they had failed. The cycle had never ended, till now.

Akzunatai was in shock, rapidly pulling his forces back except for a few he left in place to spy for him, he cancelled any further aggressions in the Milky Way and began to reassess the new situation. Not all had been lost, he had confirmed the locations of two of his siblings Rannoch and Earth and was confident of a few more. He also discovered that his original creations, the Leviathans were still alive. He was not sure if he could use that information in anyway as he could no longer feel any connection to them, but it may prove useful in time. The knowledge that the Rachni were back gave him pause. They had not been created by him, but he may be able to exploit them. Their special way of communicating left them more vulnerable to the subtle influences he commanded. The Batarian species was lost and looking for guidance and purpose, and the remnants of Cerberus may be a point of entry to the Humans. He would begin investigating any potential use immediately.

His biggest challenge was not in what to do but in how to do it. Hampered by the distance between his galaxy and the Milky Way, a one-way trip took decades and data communications were months old by the time they reached him, Akzunatai knew that he would have to concentrate on technological improvements. While doing that, he would gather what information he could, analyze and learn all he could of this opponent.

For the next several years, he kept close watch on the Shepard family. They had been at the front of all the major events over the last few years and had been instrumental in the destruction of the Reapers. That alone would have given him pause and made him cautious however, there was an even more important reason for Akzunatai's watch; they emitted the same energy signals as his kin. Far weaker of course, something that normally Akzunatai would have ignored except, something was odd about that energy, it did not feel natural. It had been given as one would hand an end of rope to another. It could be used in any number of ways, but it was still tied to the source. He began to wonder if one or more of his siblings had perhaps bound themselves to these creatures.

As the years passed and the Shepard family grew, so did Akzunatai's suspicions. Almost a decade into his watch the energy signals changed again as it branched out to the children. He could almost see the web of power building around the family, leading back to the source. His spies had reported the fight in the park on Earth and the seemingly miraculous escape by the Shepards. Their information though was always old due to the vast distance between the galaxies and it was rarely the information he needed. He could only trust his servants to a point and those further out from his direct influence even less which limited the amount of information he could give them about what he needed reported. So, while he could sense the energy and visualize the web of power stretching between the Shepards and leading back to a source, he was handicapped by bad intel and physical proximity to better understand what he was seeing.

Another decade had come and gone when Akzunatai finally received some of the answers he had been seeking. He had awakened one night in a cold sweat, shaking, terrified and furious. Rannoch had done what he would have never dared to do; he had bound himself with mortals, fusing his energy with their own, granting them immortality in exchange for becoming his physical presence in the universe. Magnifying this issue was that Earth, as side effect of joining his power with Rannoch's years earlier in order to unite John and Tali, was now fused together in this union. When John and Tali agreed to Rannoch's offer after their death destroying Cerberus, they completed the web of energy, weaving it together to form a solid, strong, unbreakable union that until that point he had considered unachievable.

Over the ages since Akzunatai had begun his war on his siblings, he had explored every way he could think of to increase his personal energy well. He had tried to steal the energy from defeated foes to absorb, or siphon, any way to make it accessible to him and him alone, all to no avail. The closest way he had found was to partner with another. They remained two separate entities and the energy pools stayed the same, but they could use their power together. These partnerships never lasted as Akzunatai, and those he could find to ally with him, did not like to share power.

He had heard rumor that there was a way to gain more power, but it would require making oneself vulnerable to mortals as well as being willing to share the power after the joining. He already detested those generals he controlled whom he allowed to tap into his energy as it made him feel weak. He could not begin to fathom joining himself with one of his creations nor could he see anyone else willing to give up their power for this union. Akzunatai was possessed with the same delusion that all those who crave power are afflicted with, that all beings must also crave power in the same way and that thinking different than he was not possible.

This merger of Rannoch, Earth and the Shepard family was far outside his understanding of why they would do it, but while he may not be able to comprehend the reasons, he knew what his response would be. From his perspective, he had been issued a challenge. A challenge to his power, his kingdom, his self-imposed god hood. He was the best of his siblings. He was the one who was destined to rule the universe. Age after age of conquering and dominating galaxies had confirmed this and he would not be stopped by anyone.

He reentered the firelit chamber and looked around at the sparse room and the servants waiting for his commands. The room itself was circular made from dark grey stone, tightly laid with clean joints and smooth faced. Columns rose from the floor at evenly spaced intervals rising high overhead and arching towards the center where they joined each other forming a domed ceiling. Three quarters of the room's walls were opened to the outside with windows and doors leading to the balcony Akzunatai had just been standing on. The balcony wrapped around the curved walls to provide an overlook of the sprawling city below. The remaining wall space held three doors. One was for general use, where his generals and other heads would enter from the lower levels. The second was for the servants use, leading to a series of passageways and stairs designed to give efficient access to all parts of the fortress where their service was required. It was also designed to keep them out of view as much as possible. The third door was for Akzunatai only. None but him knew where it went as he had killed all the builders upon completion.

In the middle of the room beneath a massive candle filled chandelier, stood a large wooden table. The wood had come from the native trees whose heights reached hundreds of feet into the air with trunks 20-30 feet in diameter. Forests of these massive trees stretched for thousands of miles on the Northern continent and were home to most of the life on the planet. They grew exceptionally fast and were incredibly strong making them a valuable and easily replenishable resource for the inhabitants. His table had been made from one such tree. The deeply polished wood had a dark brown coloring that was streaked with red lines running across the surface in natural wavering patterns. The thick legs supporting the massive top had been elegantly carved into ferocious, snarling beasts of legend and the chairs that surrounded the table, enough for twenty people to sit comfortably, were similarly carved from the same wood. Across the surface lay many maps. Some were of the local regions in detail, some showing more broader views. Others were of their own galaxy showing colonies and military outposts along with fleet locations and garrison strengths. Next to them was a map of the Milky Way. Star systems and planets neatly labeled, mass relay locations and connections mapped out and most important to Akzunatai, the planets where he believed his siblings were hiding.

Rannoch and Earth were marked as definitive locations. Confirmed that these were indeed the hiding places of his siblings by the same name. Other planets had notations where he believed others to hide. He had been surprised at first that so many had taken refuge in the same galaxy until he realized why they did so. By placing themselves as they did, they were able to use their diversion tactics to blind him to an entire galaxy without allowing their power to stack upon each other's to create a hot spot of sorts that would have given them away. It had been a stroke of genius thinking and planning, but now they were exposed. He had found them at last and now he would come for them.

The orders were given, the plans set in motion. His generals saluted and left the room, the councilors bowed and followed. The servants followed except for those whose duties were to him personally. He gave orders for his next meal then dismissed them. Akzunatai waited till they had left him then walked to his personal door. Unlocking it, he quickly moved inside and resealed the door. He needed time to think. This was the start of the end game. Years would pass before the end as the distances between him and his targets was simply too great, but when that day finally came, he would be victorious or destroyed. There would be no middle ground, no quarter given to his siblings and they would show him none. Now it was time to ensure his victory.

Fendala departed Akzunatai's chamber as she always did, calm composure and purposeful stride. As with all members of her species, she was short and slender, covered in dark fur from the pointed ears on top of her head to the four toes on her feet. A mane of longer fur, dark red in color, starting above her small, round eyes ran the center of her head, past her shoulders, down her back where it merged with a long tail that was curled around her tiny waist as if a belt. She wore only Akzunatai's tabard for clothing, as was the standard for all his household servants, upon which was embroidered a swirling galaxy being crushed under the clawed foot of Akzunatai.

Fendala had never known anything other than servitude in Akzunatai's service. Her species, the LiThar had been conquered thousands of years before her birth and was one of the longest to be in servitude to Akzunatai. OniThar, the planet upon which Akzunatai had built his fortress was their home, and their prison. When Akzunatai had first come to OniThar, he had been met with some of the fiercest fighting he had yet to encounter. The LiThar people were the builders as well as the fighters for the various species on the planet. Their small and lithe forms combined with an inherent strength that allowed them to easily lift over ten times their body weight made them a powerful force, be it in climbing the immense trees that covered their lands, constructing the cities that lay hidden within those forests or fighting invaders to defend their lands. They had held off Aksunatai's forces for a year before Akzunatai ended the invasion by setting fire to the southern forests. As the forests burned, destroying millions of acres of habitable land and killing all those who could not escape the inferno, he threatened to do the same to the entire world if they did not lay down their weapons and surrender. The LiThar held counsel and negotiated a deal with Akzunatai. In exchange for ceasing hostilities and leaving the other inhabitant species alone to live their lives in the North, they would submit themselves to him as slaves. They would build his fortress, serve and protect it for all time.

Akzunatai was far from a fool and in those early years of conquest, he had learned that absolute destruction gave him nothing. These creatures would make excellent servants for little cost. In truth, he would rule the entire world, so let the natives have their illusions of freedom. He accepted the terms and set the LiThar to their first task, building his stronghold and a city to support it.

So began the enslavement of the LiThar. The years passed with generations of LiThar being born, maturing, growing old and passing away in unending servitude. As Akzunatai's power and influence grew, so too did that of the LiThar, albeit in more subtle and secret ways. Having direct personal interaction for thousands of years with their master, had taught them a lot about their supposed god, chief among them was that he was far from infallible. They learned his strengths, weaknesses, desires and plans, but they also witnessed his wrath, felt his punishments and watched as he murdered at will. Akzunatai was prideful, arrogant and a terror to behold. Living under his rule meant spending a life in constant fear and anxiety and yet, the LiThar were a tough people, strong not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. The ages had hardened them further and formed an unshakable resolve to survive and bring about an end to Akzunatai's rule.

Knowing they would need help, not just in numbers or weapons, but someone or something that could match his power, they waited and watched. In time, they came to know that there were others like Akzunatai, his siblings, and that many of them opposed Akzunatai's plans. Finding those others gave the LiThar common ground with their captor, and over the thousands of years they searched, Akzunatai's trust in them grew. They now had their goal, and plans were put into motion. Careful planning and execution would be needed as once the siblings were located, the LiThar would have to gett to them before Akzunatai.

To ensure the plan's success and longevity over the generations, nothing was ever written down. Coded body language and actions were used to convey messages with only fragments given at any time to any person. Contingency plans and redundancies were created and put in place over the years to combat the inevitable discovery and execution of those found out by Akzunatai or his loyal minions. Only a handful of people knew the full plan and those people were responsible for creating the backups that would be told to none in case any individual should be found out or turn against their people. Fendala was one of those people.

As had her mother, her mother's mother and her mother, going back generations uncounted, Fendala served as the head of Akzunatai's fortress servants. Along with a handful of others, she ensured that Akzunatai's wishes were carried out, demands met, and anticipated his needs. She also managed the fortress itself from the cleaning and maintenance to guard duties and staffing. She had had help doing this of course, and her network of department heads were all loyal members of the LiThar. Her position meant that she had had to aid in, witness and on occasion participate in some horrible actions committed against enemies of Akzunatai. She told herself repeatedly that she would make amends. With every atrocity, she renewed her vow to ensure the success of their plans. She had had to sacrifice parts of herself to perform these duties. She had numbed her mind and soul, locked them away along with her emotions and morality. It was a necessity to survive, to succeed, to finally end her people's enslavement.

Tonight, had been the moment they had been waiting for, Akzunatai had found some of his siblings. Further good news, those siblings appeared to be potential allies. Generations of careful planning had come down to this moment; there would be no redoing it if Fendala messed it up. Maintaining her composure, she walked through the fortress issuing her nightly commands to the appropriate department heads as though it were any regular night. Upon reaching those key people who she needed to execute the plan, she gave a coded signal, disguised from the guards, but one that set into motion years of preparation. From the sleeping quarters to the kitchens, the guard rooms to the science labs and finally out to the space port she walked exchanging pleasantries with coworkers, bowing her head to those of rank, doing nothing unusual in any way. She was a servant. Ignored by all unless needed. If everything and everyone was doing their jobs, no one noticed them. Tonight, she would exploit that weakness to its fullest extent.

Reaching the command room of the spaceport Fendala greeted the commanding officer, gave him the orders for the night. Captain Branil was one of her people. He would likely take the full punishment of tonight's actions. He was her uncle, her mother's brother and a good man. He had been a major part of the underground resistance for over sixty years and would likely be dead within days. He knew the cost and had told her he was willing to pay it for freedom. She turned and left the room, another casualty to repay.

A servant ran up to her bearing a case with Akzunatai's symbol on its side. An official documents satchel was also handed to the woman. The servant looked Fendala in the eyes before turning to fade into the shadowed halls and concealed entrances to the hidden corridors the servants used. Mik-la, her friend since childhood and likely to be another casualty of these actions; another person's death she would repay. Fendala continued her journey across the space port, passing the gangways to the large command vessels hovering overhead while the smaller shuttles were staged in neat rows below, awaiting their commander's orders. The satchel had been marked for the experimental department, a journey she had made often as they were the ones developing and testing the technology that would not only transport Akzunatai and his forces to those distant galaxies, they also developed better communication devices, scanners and weaponry.

As she reached the high security area, she was stopped by the guards, searched, the case and satchel ignored as it bore Akzunatai's seal, then allowed to pass. It was more cursory than serious as the guards all new the bosses head servant. She thanked them, polite as always before carrying her delivery to the last ship in the line. It was a sleek vessel, one she recognized as it had been making dozens of test-runs these past few months. The Verna-litha, designed to travel long distance with minimal crew, latest in stasis technology and cloaking systems, it was the future of Akzunatai's fleet. Once the tech was perfected on the small ship, it would be resized to be utilized in the new fleet of large command and transport vessels already under construction.

Another LiThar, Commander Mavish, noticed her approaching, signaled to the two guards nearby and the three met her in front of the craft's main hatch. He was slightly bigger than Fendala, more muscle mass throughout the soldier's body though still the slim build of the species, black fur giving way to grey in spots marked his age in a way that only managed to make him appear more imposing. Commanding the experimental division, it was he who flew the ship for testing. As he would get the credit for success and blame for the failures, he made sure that it was he who also took the risks. He looked at the items she carried and nodded to the guards. They came forward and took both the case and satchel from Fendala into to the vessel. From within she could hear doors sliding closed and suddenly the engines roared to life. Mavish extended his arm towards the ship's door, indicating Fendala to board. She did so at once followed by the Commander. The hatch slid secure behind them and as she strapped into a waiting seat next to the guards, Mavish leapt into the pilot's chair and the ship lifted off.

OniThar fell away below them, no one other than Captain Branil and a few servants paid them any mind as the Verna-litha was a familiar sight. No alarms had been raised, no one suspected anything suspicious. That would all change soon enough Fendala thought as they flew away. She looked about the cabin, six LiThar were all that could be sent on this mission. Six LiThar, including herself were now the long-awaited hope of their people. For the first time in her life, Fendala smiled.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1. **

The vines dangling from drooping branches of trees were all that could be seen in the pre-dawn light of the swamp. The slight breeze drifting across the wet marshlands caused the vines to move constantly increasing the difficulty in distinguishing enemy forces from the surrounding nature. The overcast skies, remnants of last night's storm cut off what light they should have had from the moon and delayed the rising sun's light as well. Under the canopy of the trees, water yet fell upon the small group, residual moisture from the storm that remained on the leaves and vines of the towering trees.

Six hours they had been creeping through this swamp to the encampment ahead. Stealth was of upmost importance to their mission. A group of slavers had captured a transport ship containing a Turian ambassador and his family bound for the Citadel. The council had contacted the Retrievers, an Allied force made up of various council races who specialized in retrieving stolen items or people from smugglers and slavers. Following the last known coordinates of the transport and by extrapolating possible routes along with some educated guesswork, they found them here, in a swamp.

Vala was numb. Her armor, uniform, skin and what felt like her bones themselves were saturated with cold swamp water. Wading through the water had been bad enough, but what was supposed to have been a quick two-hour mission was now well into its sixth after the storm last night blew harder than anticipated for over four hours making forward progress impossible. The team had been forced to seek shelter under a dense copse of trees where the overhead branches had laced themselves together forming an almost watertight roof. There they had waited out the storm, damp and cold, but at least out of the swamp itself.

The Retrievers had trained for this and for good reason. The common criminal groups they pursued rarely hid in civilized places. Most of their rescues took place in some of the harshest environments far away from settled areas. Deserts, mountains, settlements still abandoned since the Reaper war, unhospitable planets and now a swamp. The hours of misery were worth the suffering though when they were successful. When they failed, they looked at it as punishment for that failure. Every member of the team had their reasons for doing this job. It was not an assigned unit, volunteers only and then only after careful screening and rigorous training would a new member be accepted into the team and allowed on missions. Vala had been with them for nearly two years and this would be her one hundredth mission.

_Vala had been a new Lieutenant on her first duty posting after completing her medical training for the Alliance when she first encountered the Retrievers. She had been assigned to a the SSV Chattanooga, one of the post Reaper war cruisers constructed to assist the Asari in their rebuilding efforts. Stationed in the Parnitha System to patrol the areas around Thessia and other local Asari posts, she had seen firsthand the horror these predator groups wrought on an area. The devastation the Reapers had done across the galaxy had been so immense that it would linger for generations and the Asari had been one of the worst races hit. By the end of the war, their military was nearly non-existent, their government in disarray and their world a lost ruin. They had become an easy target for many criminal groups looking to exploit the weak and vulnerable. To help the Asari in their rebuilding efforts, the Alliance and Turians both sent a fleet of ships to Asari space who took over the patrolling duties, freeing the Asari to concentrate on rebuilding. The reality of the situation was far worse. While home worlds and major colonies could be guarded and the surrounding space well patrolled, hundreds of worlds in dozens of systems were left abandoned giving criminals plenty of places to escape and hide. _

_It was at one of those abandoned colonies that Vala's life would change. The Chattanooga had received a tip that a mercenary group had taken an Asari Banker hostage and was demanding a high ransom from the Asari government for her return. The Chattanooga was in range and had been asked to intervein, negotiate and rescue the Asari. Vala was chosen to go with the landing party as the field medic. She and a dozen others landed in a shuttle, miles from the mercenary camp and slowly made their way forward till they were just outside the camp's perimeter, hidden in the forest. Visual scans put the mercenary forces almost double their own, but they had the element of surprise. Commander Chavolin, a Turian who specialized in these types of operations and had thus been placed in charge of the team, gave the order to spread out and wait for his signal. He was going to try to talk them down first, but if things went sideways, concussive rounds only. The goal was to take them alive if possible. _

_The team crept away and Chavolin gave them time before rising and announcing his presence. Vala and another Lieutenant by the name of Darrow, a human, remained in cover behind their commander. Chavolin's greeting was answered by the mercenaries and he stepped into the ring of light to begin negotiations. At first, it appeared as though this might end peacefully. The mercenaries were told that they were surrounded. They were offered fair trial and treatment if they laid down their weapons and released the banker. Chavolin did not want to fight them. There was no reason for people to be hurt or killed today. Had it ended with then, Vala would likely still be on the Chattanooga and not in this swamp. _

_The mercenaries' second in charge refused, forcefully. He had drawn his gun and fired a round at Chavolin, knocking the Turian back and down as the bullet took him in the shoulder. Gunfire instantly erupted from Vala's squad in the trees and the mercenaries among the ruins. Vala was the only one not to open fire. When Chavolin had been shot, she was already moving towards the fallen Turian. Fortunately, he had been standing just outside the thick brush that his team was hidden amongst and the impact of the shot had rocked him back, so he fell back into the overgrowth. Using the decades old natural growth as cover, Vala was able to reach her commander and begin patching him up. Working fast, she had managed to stop the blood and was in the process of bandaging the wound when a woman's scream and the orders of cease fire were yelled in response. _

_Looking up from her patient, she scanned the ruins where the mercs had camped. Bodies lay slumped against the walls, blood pooling around a few. They must have had to switch to lethal rounds at some point she thought. Then her eyes found the source of the female scream. In the corner of a collapsed building, trapped with no way out the merc companies second in command, the man who fired the first shot, now held not only the Asari banker, but also a small Asari child in front of him as living shield. None of the reports had mentioned a child. _

_The man demanded they let him go or he would kill both the woman and child. Her teammates, missing two she noted, were approaching slowly, weapons trained on the man. Vala then realized she was the closest to him. Less than a dozen yards separated them. Vala's half hidden position had made the merc overlook her in his attempt to evade capture. The next few seconds seemed to take hours. _

_One of her teammates took a step forward, again demanding the merc drop his weapons. The merc tightened his grip on the woman and lowered his gun, to point directly at the child's head. Vala's eyes narrowed and she felt that mysterious power flow through her body. Time stood still. She could count every beat of her heart as her vision focused on the target, her hand moved of its own volition as she saw the path. A knife flew from her suddenly outstretched hand, covered the space separating her from the merc and embedded itself through the gun wielding arm, severing nerves and tendons instantly causing the merc to drop the gun and turn in surprise. His wide eyes were met with the airborne form of an angry Quarian-human hybrid flying, feet outstretched and aimed at his chest. No sooner had Vala released her knife than her already coiled leg muscles launched her high into the air in an arc that carried her into the mercenary, feet slamming into his chest, knocking the merc away from his hostages and hard onto the rubble strewn floor of the ruined building. Vala landed solidly on top of the man with yet another knife gripped in her three fingered fist and held tightly to the stunned mercenaries' throat. _

_Slowly, the world around her came back into focus. Vala lifted her eyes and saw that the fight was over. The Asari woman and girl were being shuffled away from the mercs by two of her team. Others were rounding up the enemy survivors. In addition to the one she was still holding down, seven others had survived the shootout, the rest were dead. Lieutenant Darrow was on the comm to the Chattanooga to send the shuttles for extraction as well as medical team. Along with the Commander, they had two others injured, none killed. All the mercs needed medical attention to some degree. Finally, Vala's eyes met those of Commander Chavolin. The Turian was upright and walking, one hand holding pressure over the unfinished bandage on his shoulder. Never speaking a word, he looked down at the Quarian woman still kneeling on the mercs chest, nodded once then looked at his shoulder before looking back at her. Vala blushed slightly as she realized she had left her commander's medical treatment unfinished. Rising to her feet as her team took the mercenary second into custody, she walked over to Chavolin and resumed dressing his wound. _

_The shuttle ride back was a blur to Vala, as was the next few days of debriefing. She barely remembered what had happened and only by her team's accounts did she come to understand what she had done. For eight years she had kept her power secret from the alliance. She never used it to gain an advantage, never used it to protect or fight. She would use it to heal though. That was one of the reasons she had rose so quickly through the medical training program. She had discovered that she could sense people's injuries, both emotional and physical. Over the years, she had work diligently to refine that control and had become adept at detecting issues, finding the source and best way to heal them if they were physical. On the emotional side, she had learned how to adjust how she reacted to a person's emotional state to provide what was needed for that person. She had not done this alone. Both Doctor Karin Chakwas and Doctor Felicia Hannigan, had been integral in that training as they were familiar with Vala's power. _

_Now Vala had exposed her secret to the Alliance. There was no taking it back or covering it up. She had sat through several interrogation boards answering their questions as best she could. After three days she had been released on limited duty. This was a standard procedure for any soldiers who were in a firefight until the medical and psychology officers gave their clearance. It had been during this down time that Vala's life took an unexpected turn. _

_Sitting in the practically deserted officer's mess, as most were on duty at this hour, Vala's silent thinking was interrupted with the whooshing sound of the door opening. The familiar call of "Captain on deck!" had her rising quickly to her feet while turning to face the door at attention. The Chattanooga's commanding officer, Captain Riley, a human woman, tall of build with salt and pepper hair, career military with an impeccable record was rapidly approaching. A veteran from the Reaper war, Riley had been one of Admiral Anderson's scout team commanders on Earth. The stories about what she and her teams had done were legendary. To serve under her now was a great honor to Vala._

_Immediately behind the Captain was Commander Chavolin. The Turian's injury was healing well and infection negated thanks to Vala's efforts in the field. In a few weeks not a scar would remain. As they approached, Vala snapped a crisp salute which both senior officers returned in like fashion. Captain Riley indicated that they should sit and once the three people were settled, she began. _

"_Lieutenant Shepard, your actions in the field on mission were a combination of startling, incredible and brave. You performed above and beyond what was expected of a medical officer in that you not only risked your safety to aid your fallen commander, but you then single handedly rescued your target and captured the enemy. Commander Chavolin has recommended you for the Alliance medal for heroism and his sentiments have been fully backed by the entire team. I concur with their recommendations."_

_Vala was stunned. This was not the speech she expected to receive today. "Thank you, Captain. Commander." She managed to reply looking at both officers in turn. _

"_Lieutenant, I know these last few days have been rough on you. A normal debriefing session is always hard, worse when there is a gunfight and more so when people are injured and or killed. I believe your father can tell you horror stories about the paperwork involved." Vala had to smile at that comment as she indeed had heard her dad complaining about the amount of paperwork that saving the galaxy had entailed. "Your situation was far from normal though. Not that what happened was all that unusual, after all, those with biotics can do amazing feats as well. What made this special is that you do not have biotic power, Vala. What you did was something unheard of in anyone except your parents."_

_Vala had lowered her eyes as her Captain spoke. This was what she had been afraid of. She did not want to become known for her power. She wanted to be known for being herself. Her power had caused her too much pain in her young life. It had driven a wedge between her and her siblings, her twin sister Hanna in particular. It had forced her to be reclusive, avoiding close friendships and never revealing too much about herself. It had helped her as well, made her stronger, both physically and emotionally and made her a better doctor, allowing her to help people beyond what could normally be done. That is all she really cared about, helping others. Captain Riley sensed the young woman's discomfort and smiled. _

"_Vala." The Captain using her first name and not rank came as a shock. Vala met her commanding officer's eyes at this unfamiliar breech of protocol. "I can see that this is rough for you. I also believe that I have gotten to know you a little, if not always through direct interactions, then from reports of your superiors as well as fellow officers and the enlisted. All speak highly of you in your performance, ethics, morals, adherence to duty and above all, your compassion and willingness to help any in need. The only negative they have mentioned, is that you are a loner. You don't socialize much beyond a few close friends and what is mandated unless you are helping a patient. At those times, you open yourself to whatever need may be required. I think I better understand why now, and I think new have a solution that will help you. Commander Chavolin is here to offer you something a bit more fitting than an assistant medical officer abord a patrol ship. I will let him tell you more." _

"_Thank you, Captain." The Turian replied before turning to Vala. "Lieutenant first let me say thank you. I owe you that much for patching me up on that planet. I also want to commend you on your actions that day. You could have remained in the shadows, safe and out of the line of fire. Most medical officers would, as that is what they are trained to do. They work behind the lines ensuring that the troops in front can continue to fight. You do that, but from not from the rear. I watched you the entire time Shepard. You position yourself not where you will be shielded, but instead where you can watch, prepare and if needed shield others. You don't break rank or protocol, you don't endanger your fellow shipmates, but to anyone watching, you are not a mere soldier. You are a leader, an inspiration, and a protector. You are truly your parent's child. _

_As such and considering your special revelation, I wish to offer you a new assignment. First though, have you heard of the Retrievers?" Vala shook her head in response. "No, I didn't think so. The Retrievers are a new allied unit, part of the Citadel Council and made up of specialists from all over the galaxy. Our primary duty is to return that which was taken be it person or thing. After the Reaper war ended, there was a short period of peace, but that quickly ended. Soon many saw the value in items that had been lost or abandoned. With those items ranging from the mundane of clothing and trinkets to the more serious, weapons, government data, ships and so forth. Worst of all, people were again becoming a hot commodity as the slave trade returned in force. Colonies everywhere needed labor to rebuild and with the diminished militaries, the slavers had free reign. For a long time, little could be done. The resources simply could not be spared. That time has at last ended. The Council called a handful of people, me included to build a team to combat these slavers, thieves and the mercenaries who work for them. For a year I have been looking for others to join our fledgling unit and I am hoping that you might be willing to join."_

_Vala had sat silent through Chavolin's speech, listening closely to what he was saying. She was more than interested, of that she had no doubt. This felt like what she had been searching for. This was a way she could truly help those who needed aid. Yet, she held reservations. "Commander, I am honored that you would ask me to join you. I am greatly interested in the work you are doing, and I feel that I could be a great asset to your team and them to me. However, I do not want to be just a tool to be used so please tell me truthfully, is this because you want me, or do you want my power?"_

_Commander Chavolin looked at the Lieutenant for a few moments as he thought of how to answer. Turning, he met Captain Riley's eyes and an unspoken question passed between them. She nodded in reply. "Lieutenant." Chavolin began. "I see that you are a woman who appreciates honesty no matter how much it hurts. That is commendable and rare these days as most would rather be lied to and be comforted even if that comfort is false. What you can do, your power, ability, whatever it is you call it, is indeed remarkable. I've seen the vids of what happened on Earth when you were a child. I was at the battel of Rannoch and watched as your parents channeled that power and destroyed Cerberus. To have that ability within my team's ranks would be a boon unlike any other. I will not deny its advantage nor my desire to have it helping us. That is not however, why I sought you out." Vala's eyes, which had been downcast as she listened to the Turian talk now shot upward to again meet his. With eyebrows raised in an expression of curiosity she waited for the commander to continue. _

"_Vala, over a year ago I began searching for people to build this team with. I needed experts from many fields of study, military tactics, biotics, snipers, hostage negotiators, hacking, and medical. I need people who can stand on the front, engage in any scenario, endure extremes and passionately care about what they are doing. Some of those I have found, others I still search for. A few months ago, your name began to pop up around the medical community. I had been talking to every fleet doctor, teacher, nurse, anyone with an opinion on who they considered a forerunner in field medicine. After two dozen separate people spoke your name with praise as a young woman with a passion for helping and healing, tough and smart, I knew I needed to meet you. The only negative they spoke of was your standoffish nature, you are not a loner per say, just not a social creature. _

_I thought you sounded perfect for my team. I asked Alliance Command where you were stationed and found you here. I contacted Captain Riley and asked her opinion of you, to which she told me almost word for word what she told you earlier, which as you just heard, echoes what many others have been saying. I wanted to see you in action for myself and when this mission came up, the Captain and I arranged to have us assigned together. I had already planned on extending the invitation to you when it was done. The Captain has those orders with her now and as you can see, they are dated the day before the mission. I wanted you on my team before I knew you had that power. _

_Lieutenant Shepard, you are bound for great things, if you do not hold yourself back. I can understand wanting to keep secrets, maintain privacy, and not feel as though everyone is staring at you like a freakshow creature. If what you truly want is to remain in the background, doing what you can from there, then I will let you. No one is forced to serve on this team. We all choose to do so for our own reasons. However, if you are ready to come out of the shadows, live up to your potential and truly help those who need it, then I would be honored to have you join us."_

_Silence descended on the room as the Commander finished speaking. Vala had to wipe tears from her eyes. She had been certain that she was going to be in trouble. They had no idea how powerful she truly was, how dangerous. It scared her every day that she would lose control and hurt someone, kill someone. She spent so much time in isolation, not because she didn't want friends or to socialize. She did it to keep them safe from her. For years, she practiced control. Felicia had coached her on finding ways to control her mind and her emotions. To not let them lead her to making rash decisions. Kris had taught her to control her power and that hunger for more, much as she herself had had to do. Her mom and dad allowed her to vent that frustration as they knew what she was going through. They had done this, indirectly and unintentionally, to her after all. While all that support was nice, they were family, friends. They were the people who helped raise her. She played with their kids when they were young. They knew her and she them. There was a comfort, a trust that had been built over the years between them. Commander Chavolin was a stranger and the people under him, even more so. To know what she could do and to be welcoming to that, was something she had not been prepared for. Yet, it felt right. _

"_Commander, I will join your team if Captain Riley grants me permission. I do not want to abandon my post as I still have six months left on this tour." _

"_Permission granted Lieutenant. You can make up those six months you owe me by getting out there and doing some good." _

"_I will Captain." Vala replied. Captain Riley rose as did Commander Chavolin. Vala quickly composed herself and stood facing the two superior officers. They exchanged salutes and Riley and Chavolin departed leaving Vala alone with her thoughts. The next day, she had been given her official leave and was on a transport ship with Chavolin to the Citadel where she would meet the team and begin training to become a Retriever. _

Commander Chavolin's hand signals to stop and get down flashed across her field of vision and brought Vala out of her reminiscences. As one, the squad froze in place, squatting low to conceal themselves among the foliage of the swamp. Using silent sign language, Chavolin relayed the situation to his team. The enemy camp was ahead. They were using a cave in the rock wall ahead for shelter. Six guards were on the outside keeping watch. Two snipers in the trees. The leader and another, possibly more, were inside the cave along with the hostages.

Assignments were given in the same way. He pointed to Klavin and Duranta, former Salarian STG agents and told them to take out the snipers. The two Salarians silently vanished into the swamp. Vala and Nelis, a Drell formerly of the Hanar's assassin unit, were to flank the camp, and take the high ground above the cave entrance. Lina, their Asari biotic specialist, would create a shockwave to knock down the remaining guards while the remaining four would move into position and subdue them. The goal was to draw out the leader and, if necessary, for Vala and Nelis to take him from behind. The safety of the hostages was priority one.

Vala and Nelis made the climb up the rock face quickly and silently. Having worked together since the early days when they were in training, the two women knew each other's movements as though they were their own. Staying hidden behind boulders and plant growth, fingers and toes finding the tiniest of cracks for purchase and pulling each other up from one ledge to the next, they worked their way to a spot overlooking the camp, concealed from view by a rocky rise, scrub bush and hanging moss, their perch also had the advantage of being directly over the cave entrance and only a short drop of ten feet to the ground below. Nelis smiled at Vala as the two assumed their positions and waited for the action to start below.

Klavin and Duranta made short work of the two snipers. Moving stealthily through waters was as natural to a Salarian as breathing. Tranquilizer darts loaded with a poison that rendered a victim unconscious a second after injection pierced both targets at nearly the same time. The snipers were pulled from their perches, bound and secured to the base of the tree for security and easy retrieval later. No sooner had they finished than a bluish glow flashed through the trees and startled exclamations were heard as a dozen mercenaries found themselves slammed to the ground by a wave of biotic energy. The two Salarians sprinted towards their teammates.

Lina had timed her work beautifully. The shockwave had caught all six guards at once and sent them sprawling across the ground with all but two disarmed. Her team quickly neutralized those first with the same tranquilizer rounds the Salarians had used. Chavolin had told them that the goal was always to take as many alive as possible. Justice could not be served on a dead man. As the remaining guards were tranquilized and all six securely restrained, she took up her position slightly behind the Commander. Her job was to shield them, and she did it well. Barriers had always been her specialty. She could create the standard dome or wall with little effort, but her unique ability was in creating multiple smaller shields that she could deploy simultaneously to protect individuals or separate groups. Doing so took an enormous amount of effort on her part and so Chavolin had ordered her to only do so when necessary. Wait, watch and be prepared was his command to her.

Chavolin watched his people finish securing their prisoners just as Klavin and Duranta emerged from the trees to join the unit. Seven individuals including himself now stood ready, weapons pointed at the cave entrance. He looked at the rocky mountain towering overhead. Somewhere amidst those rocks, trees and shrubs lay hidden Vala and Nelis. He had received no communications from them, nor would he, but he knew they were there. He exhaled slowly. It was time to end this hunt. "Brennen Vask! I am Commander Chavolin of the Retrievers, charged by the Citadel Council to rescue the Turian Ambassador, his family and bring you to justice. My team has captured your guards and snipers. We now hold the entrance to the cave. Come forth, no weapons and with hands raised. No harm will come to you or anyone else with you. This does not have to end in violence."

From within the cave emerged a human male of average height and build, thin grey hair cut short and a matching beard framed a lined face, tanned by a lifetime of living outdoors. His clothes were simple yet of good quality, suitable for a life of changing environments. In his right hand was a pistol, pointed at the figure his left held in place directly in front of him. The person shielding him was a Turian female, the ambassador's wife. Hands bound behind her back and leg shackles at her feet made her movement awkward.

"Ah, Commander Chavolin. Your reputation precedes you. I was hoping we would get to meet one day." As Vask talked his eyes moved over each of the figures standing in front of him. He could see the prone figures of his captured men behind them to one side. "Tsk, tsk." Vast shook his head upon seeing his men. "They ensured me they were the best, that no one could take them by surprise. Apparently, you are no one Commander. I know for a fact that your team is made up of no ones. Oh, don't look so surprised. It is my job to know my enemy just as it is yours. We are not all uneducated pirates Commander. At least we know who and what we are, unlike yourselves. STG, Alliance N7, Shepard Academy, Asari Commandos, washouts all of you. Each of you in your own ways discovered that you couldn't cut it in your own militaries and so you left to join this vagabond. Now, you go around pretending to be heroes. Sure, you have beaten some of my colleagues, but how many continue to best you? You have never stopped us. Not truly. Your victories ring hollow for we will never cease. Someone is always ready to replace anyone of us that falls. Can the same be said about your team? Will there always be someone ready to step in and replace you?"

The Retrievers had shifted nervously as Vask spoke. His words were not new ones to any of the veteran soldiers in that clearing. They did however have a truth to them. A twisted and manipulated truth, yet still a truth. It touched on many of the doubts and uncertainties that were felt amongst them, not only of what they did but of secrets and insecurities known only to themselves. Chavolin however never twitched, never wavered. Still as stone he stood listening, giving strength to his team and defiance to his enemy. "Shall we test your theory today Vask? Shall we see who the wash outs truly are and if there is anyone to replace us. I have heard these words before. They are far from original and others, much more terrifying than you have spoken them. Their voices are now silent and if you are representative of what will replace them, then I would say we are indeed winning as the replacement is but a fraction of the original."

"There have indeed been better than me Commander. I acknowledge that fact with pride as they are ones to look up to, aspire to. Perhaps one day, people will speak of me that way. Killing you may well help me to reach those heights." Suddenly, Vask froze and his eyes widened. Quickly scanning the opposing group of people an expression of confusion and then worry crossed his face. "Wait a minute. Where is that Quarian bitch that was rumored to be so powerful. Where is the Shepard heir? I know she travels with you Commander and I know what she can do. Show her to me or I kill the Turian."

Several things seemed to happen at once. Nelis had been slowly leaning out over the edge of the rock lip above the cave. Vala holding tight to a rope that was in turn holding Nelis in a near horizontal position, far out of concealment yet still above and behind Vask. As soon as he stopped speaking, Nelis release the small bundle she was holding as Vala gave a tremendous haul on the rope bringing the woman back into safety. The bundle clanged on the ground between Vask and the cave. As the Human slaver turned, it exploded in a blinding flash of light and mind-numbing reverberation of sound. Vask fell to his knees in shock, temporarily blind, deaf and disoriented. The ambassador's wife did likewise as she was caught in the non-lethal blast. Out front, Lina had watched her teammates progress from the edges of her vision. It was all she could do to keep a straight face as Nelis swung by a rope above their target. She knew what was about to happen and prepared her biotics. As Nelis dropped the bundle, Lina set a shield around the team to protect them from both the light and sound.

No sooner had the explosion ceased than Vala and Nelis, now free of the harness dropped from the rock ledge to the ground below. A shot fired from Nelis' pistol rendered Vask unconscious. Two more in quick succession came from Vala's own weapon and the two snipers that had been hidden in the cave's shadows till the flash bang sent them reeling now fell limp as the tranquilizer did its job. Vala's eyes instantly adjusting to the dim cave light, went first. Keeping low and moving fast she was but an unidentifiable shape in the shadows. Nelis immediately behind her, used her enhanced light goggles to aid her vision. They rounded a corner and were met by a burst of gunfire. In the flash of light from the weapons muzzles, the women caught site of the hostages bound and gagged behind the final three shooters. They dove for cover as their shields flashed with bullet impacts.

"Did you see any way around them?" Nelis whispered. "I counted three but didn't get a good look at the room."

"There is no other way. That is the back of the cave." Replied Vala. Both women stayed crouched behind the rock wall, breathing heavily as adrenaline surged through their bodies. "Val, you're a damn good doctor. Be sure to get whichever one I miss."

"Nelis wait! Fuck!" Vala tried to grab her partner as the Drell pulled a second pistol from its leg holster and still crouching, spun out from the safety of the wall to square off with the shooters. The sudden movement caught the mercs by surprise and in that second of hesitation Nelis fired both weapons. The center merc went down before he could react and the one to the left immediately followed but not before getting a shot off himself. That shot took Nelis square in the chest, her shields flared to life and she was rocked back from the impact. The mercs were not using tranquilizer ammo.

Vala had reacted instantly after Nelis' move. On the heels of her friend, her own pistol raised and ready, she threw herself into the fight and as the third merc squeezed the trigger to his own riffle releasing a three-round burst, Vala pulled the trigger. The tranquilizer round covered the distance between them seemingly in an instant. The final merc dropped before he could squeeze another round and the rifle fell from limp fingers to clatter on the rock floor of the cave. His first shot though had not been wasted. All three rounds found the downed Drell body and Vala had heard the crackling sounds of the armor's shields igniting.

Vala moved like a well-oiled machine. Her eyes scanned the hostages and saw they were fine. No injuries. None of the mercs were moving, but she could see chests rising and falling with their breath. As she turned to Nelis, she hit her comm. "Clear! Nelis is down!" She dropped to her knees and began examining her friend. The shields had done their job well as two rounds had slammed into the woman's chest, one in the stomach and the last in her arm. Vala was good, but outside a hospital, Vala wasn't certain she could have saved her had all those rounds punctured her body. Instead, Nelis would have be extremely sore for the next week and wake up with a bad headache and new dents in her armor.

Commander Chavolin along with the rest of the team had arrived as Vala was finishing her exam and giving Nelis a shot to put her body at ease till she woke. Looking up at the Commander, Vala silently answered his question, Nelis was okay. He nodded in return and turned to the ambassador who was being set free by Klavin. "Ambassador Greivis, I am Commander Chavolin of the Retrievers. We have been sent by the Council to rescue you. You wife is outside with one of my own, safe and uninured other than some ringing in her ears due to a flash bang grenade. Do you or your children require medical attention?"

The Ambassador shook his head. "No, we are all uninjured other than some bumps and bruises. Thank you, Commander and your team for the rescue. Do you by chance know what happened to the other people on the transport?"

"Unfortunately, they were all killed sir. Only one lived to deliver a message. He is currently at a hospital on the Citadel as he was badly injured and malnourished by the time a passing patrol discovered your ship." The Ambassador sighed. "That is too bad. They were good people. Innocents caught in the middle." Taking a few deep breaths, he watched as Vala inspected his children for injuries, cleared them and let them be carried off by other members of the team. As Vala approached to examine the Ambassador he held up a hand stopping her.

"Please, Commander if we may, I am not seriously injured, and my exam can wait till we are aboard your ship. I must return to the Citadel immediately. My original message has become even more important and we cannot afford further delays." Chavolin acknowledged the Ambassador and helped him to his feet.

"Duranta, bring the Ambassador to his family. Lina should have the shuttle arriving any minute. The rest of you, get these prisoners secured and ready to load as well. We depart as soon as possible. Vala, a minute please." Chavolin watched his people carry out his orders and within a few minutes only he and Vala remained in the cave. He looked down at the Quarian, face expressionless. "So, who's dumb as fuck idea was it to play hero this time?"

"Nelis sir, but I did not try to stop her." Vala's reply was soft yet sure. She would speak the truth, but she would not let her friend take all the blame.

"I swear, you two girls get off on the excitement, don't you? Nelis. That woman does not do half measures I will give her that. I had hoped you would be a calming influence on that woman. Instead, I think she is breaking you out of that shell you like to hide in." Vala blushed at the Commander's words. They spoke true. Nelis had joined the Retrievers at the same time Vala had. They went through the training program together and became close friends. Not overnight, Vala wouldn't allow that to happen. She had still been nervous about revealing what she could do and those walls protecting her from others were built high and thick. Nelis was patient and persistent until one day she decided it was time for Vala to smash down those walls.

_It had been during hand to hand combat practice. The two women were sparring with each other and Nelis, who had been a trained assassin prior to the Retrievers, and could read body language like a child's book, noticed that Vala was holding back. What or why she wasn't sure, but she could tell Vala was capable of more. So, she started taking cheap shots to wind her up. She wanted Vala pushed to her limits. She threw in some tough mental work as well. They had gotten to know one another well over the weeks and Nelis had discovered some deep held secrets and insecurities about her new friend. The gym was busy that day, but they were off to a side and no one was paying them attention. It was time to get mean. _

_As the two women fought, Nelis did and said everything she could think of till she had Vala on the edge. It was time. Nelis moved in fast, closing the distance between them in a blink taking two punches from Vala, and shrugging them off as she had been trained to do. She hooked Vala's leg with her own and sent the Quarian sprawling to the mat. Vala rolled and tensed her muscles to spring back to her feet, but Nelis had anticipated and simply dropped to the mat, slamming her elbow directly into the Quarian's solar plexus, knocking the wind from the girl and wining the match. Nelis got to her feet and spat. "You know, I met your sister once. Hanna told me you were pathetic. Just an attention seeker who liked to blame her failures on her parents and some invisible energy. I guess she was right." Nelis turned, her heart aching for what she had just done to her friend when suddenly she was thrown across the room. _

_Vala could hardly believe what she was hearing when Nelis started using things she had told her in private as a weapon against her. When the cheap shots started to land and Nelis merely laughed, Vala's confusion became anger. As the fight went on, Vala began to forget this was a practice match as her anger began to overwhelm her. She knew she should stop. She needed to regain control, but Nelis wouldn't relent. Then that final blow came. Vala found herself, breathless and aching on the mat, and Nelis spoke those words about Hanna then turned her back on her. Vala's rage exploded. Before Nelis had taken two steps, Vala had sprung to her feet and unleashed her power. While screaming in rage, a wave of purple energy flew from the Quarians hands, slammed into the back of the Drell woman and tossed her like a rag doll across the gym where she slammed into a wall and crashed onto a table below spilling bottles of water and towels across the floor. _

_The gym was dead silent. No one moved, no one spoke. Eyes flickered back and forth between the crumpled Drell laying in spreading puddle of water and the Quarian, standing braced for action, breathing heavily while tears fell from her intensely glowing eyes. Seconds turned to minutes when Nelis stirred. A moan and then the woman slowly rose, first to her knees than with care, to her feet. She gained her footing and lifted her head to face Vala. The two women watched each other for a moment before Nelis began to clap. "Well, I'm glad that finally happened. Didn't think it would be quite that painful, but at last Vala you stopped holding back!"_

_Vala stared at Nelis, eyes still flooded with tears and anger, body tense and ready to spring. Purple sparks danced across her fingertips as the power coursed through the Quarian's body. Nelis who had started to walk forward froze. She could sense that Vala was not backing off, and she feared that she may have pushed too far. "Leave, now." She spoke sternly to the gym at large. "Leave us alone, I need to talk to Vala." Quickly the others cleared the gym to wait outside in the corridor. They were not certain exactly what was happening, nor certain they should go far. Lina darted off to get the Commander while the others gathered outside the doors to wait. _

_As the doors closed, Nelis began to attempt to diffuse the situation she had created. "Vala, it's okay. I'm sorry, truly I am for being so mean to you, but you needed to see that it is okay to be who you are." As she spoke those words, she saw a visible flinch in the other girl and a flash of surprise cross the Quarians face. _

"_You knew? How? Did Commander Chavolin tell you?" Vala's response was a mixture of curiosity and fear. If Nelis knew, did the others? What would happen now? Nelis, picking up on the panic in the young woman's expressions quickly reacted to reassure. _

"_No, the Commander did not tell me. Nor did anyone else." She replied to the unspoken question. "Vala, I didn't know what it was you were hiding. I had no idea you could do that. I'm not even certain I know what you did." Here she looked with respect and curiosity at the purple sparks still dancing between Vala's fingers. "I just knew that you were holding back, restraining yourself. I figured it was anger, or some other emotional shit. That is what normally holds people back. They don't know how to channel and release anger and aggression properly, or they did once, but something went wrong and now, they hold it back out of fear of it happening again. That is why I was being so mean to you. I was trying to make you angry, get you to unleash that rage. I didn't know your rage was a hidden bomb."_

_Vala released the power she had been holding. The purple sparks faded out and her body slumped. She was awash with emotion, but no longer angry. At least not at Nelis. She was mad and frustrated with herself though. She had kept the power hidden from the public since childhood. As it grew in strength, keeping it hidden became harder and after her parents became united with Rannoch, it had nearly overwhelmed her. With help she had learned ways to manage, but it was still difficult and a constant battle. Up to that point Chavolin had been the only one to know about it within the Retrievers. Now, everyone knew, and she had used it against one of them. _

"_I'm so sorry Nelis." Vala spoke through sobs as she collapsed to the map in exhaustion and frustration. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't want to hurt you." Nelis closed the distance between them quickly and wrapped the Quarian in a hug. "Hey, easy now. I'm alright. Might be a little sore in the morning, but I've had much worse. I'm the one who should be apologizing Vala. I should have talked to you rather than what I did. It was mean. I like you; you know. You have a fire in you that is both warm and comforting as well as scary. We just need to find a way to help you channel it safely."_

_Just then the doors burst open and Commander Chavolin walked into the room. He looked at the two women huddled on the mat and then at the smashed table and surrounding mess. Returning his gaze to the women he asked. "Are you both okay?" They nodded and Nelis began to speak but Chavolin interrupted her. "I already know what happened. I have a dozen eyewitnesses that were all too eager to tell me. Nelis what you did was reckless and dangerous. I know why you did it, but sometimes a mystery needs to remain so." Nelis lowered her head and her body sagged as she took her scolding. "Vala, I also know why you have hidden your power. We have discussed it at great length, and I do believe that I have repeatedly told you that one day you would need to open. We are a team. We support each other, respect each other, trust each other. Your power is nothing to be afraid of unless you let it control you. Today you see what happens when your power is in control. I have seen firsthand what happens when you are in control of it. I think it is time everyone else does as well."_

_Chavolin turned from the girls and walked to the doors. Opening them he beckoned the waiting group back inside the gym. "Vala has something she wants to tell us. This is hard for her. It is something that has been a source of ridicule and shame by some of those closest to her. It is also a point of pride. Something that allows her to be even greater than she already is. She wants to use it to heal, to help, but like many things, it is a double-edged blade and can cut both ways."_

"_Commander, I'm not sure how to do this. I mean, I know how, but what should I do?" Chavolin smiled at her before answering. "Vala, I think fate may have more plans for you than either of us know about." She gave him a questioning look at those words. "It just so happens that the day you need it most, a good friend of yours just happened to be visiting the Citadel." The door again slid open and in walked a slim woman, average height, long brown hair tied up in a ponytail pulled away from a face stern and hard. A few crease lines at the corners of her mouth and eyes as well as some grey streaks in her hair gave way her age, but the athletically built body and the way she walked sent a message that this was a dangerous person. Aside from the Shepard Academy workout uniform that carried the embroidered Admiral's bars on her shoulders, she was also one of the most famous people in the galaxy and the entire room instantly snapped to attention and saluted before the Commander had finished bellowing "Attention on Deck!"_

_Admiral Kristin Thibodaux snapped a quick salute back as she walked past them, stopping in front of Vala and Nelis who had also leapt to attention with the others. She did not say a word but slowly began to walk around the two women, looking them up and down as though performing a dress uniform inspection. She completed her circuit and resumed her position in front of the fearful women. Vala may be friends with Kris, but Admiral Thibodaux was a whole other person, one Vala and everyone else for that matter, was terrified of. _

"_At ease." The Admiral spoke and around the room the officers relaxed though remained silent and barely moved as they waited to see what would happen now. Vala barely moved. Kris had spent countless hours working with her to keep control of her power. The older woman knew a lot about controlling an overwhelming force from within and what happens when emotions take control. A very famous video of her leveling a small army in a park showed the devastating outcome of one such event. "Lieutenant Shepard." Admiral Thibodaux spoke at last. "I've been asked to come here and kick your ass." The Admiral smiled and Vala at last exhaled and relaxed. This was her friend Kris. This she could handle. _

"_Not unless I kick yours first ma'am." Came the reply. _

_Both women smiled at each other and hugged, then walked to the practice ring and took up positions. The Retrievers gathered round and Lina rose a biotic wall separating the spectators from the opponents. Vala and Kris went to opposite sides and made ready. As the purple light flared around Vala's entire body, a similar light, only blue in color glowed from Kris'. Commander Chavolin's voice asked if they were ready. Each nodded and he yelled fight. _

_Energy fired from the hands of both women collided in a shower of sparks in the middle of the ring and before the smoke had cleared, both had begun to move. Biotics clashed with the alien energy in a flurry of light and sound as both women threw punches and spun kicks, leaping and rolling back and forth across the ring. Bolts of purple and blue sparkling energy flew striking each other, the two women and the shield Lina held when they missed the target. _

_Seconds turned into minutes and the fight kept going. The Retrievers winced as blows landed with the sound of flesh smacking against flesh or the tiny pops the energy bolts made. Neither Vala nor Kris held anything back. Kris had taught her that if she was to fight, then fight to win. A bright burst of light came from Kris and the resulting shockwave tossed Vala backward. From Vala's hand flew a strand of energy which whipped around Kris' throat stopping Vala's rearward motion and yanking Kris to her knees. Kris tucked and rolled with the motion and raising her arm which was now a biotic sword, cut through Vala's rope, releasing her and fired back with a massive stream of biotic power. Vala saw it coming and release a matching stream. A noise equivalent to a sonic boom tore through the gym dropping the Retrievers to their own knees while they clutched their ears. _

_Vala and Kris strained against one another. This was it. The finale. They had locked themselves into a reverse tug-of-war competition and neither would back down. The force they were exerting began to return through the streams and push the women apart. Kris fired a second biotic stream against the far wall to stabilize herself while Vala's Quarian feet, a legacy of the Nthula-Dom, with their long and powerful claw like toes dug into the practice ring floor. They shredded their way through the safety mat and embedded themselves in the concrete below sending cracks radiating and concrete chips flying. _

_The wall behind Kris shuddered and groaned and more cracks spread at Vala's feet under the immense pressures. To the spectator's the women appeared to be at a draw, but then Kris smiled. Vala's eyes, fiercely glowing went wide and then she lost the fight. In the same moment Kris release the stabilizing stream behind her, she redirected her own forward stream into a flat plane angled towards the ceiling. Vala's stream, now unrestricted, raced towards Kris, collided with the angled shield to slam harmlessly into the ceiling, but not before the force of the impact knocked Kris to her back. Vala to flew forward as her incredibly strong leg muscles, boosted by her power and tensed as they pushed against the floor, found themselves without resistance and launched the Quarian forward towards her waiting opponent. _

_Kris had planned on this reaction and as she hit the ground, she coiled her legs to her chest just in time to get them under the airborne Quarian. Her boots caught Vala in the stomach, while her hands locked around Vala's arms and using the momentum of the flying woman she flung Vala over her own body and with that same motion pulled herself over as well to land squarely on Vala's chest, knocking the wind from the Quarian and winning the fight. At least she thought she had won. As Kris stared down into the glowing eyes of the panting Quarian, Vala smiled and winked at her. Kris suddenly notice the sharpened steel blade of Vala's knife pressed against her throat. When Kris had smiled at Vala, the younger woman realized what was about to happen. She had pulled the knife from the sheath on her thigh once she felt herself begin flying forward and when Kris' arms wrapped around her own, Kris inadvertently locked Vala's knife precisely where it needed to go. _

"_Draw!" Boomed Chavolin's voice and Lina lowered the biotic shield. The portion of the gym that had been shielded was in severe disarray. The practice ring was in shambles with the pads shredded and the roped edges tangled in piles on the floor. The concrete floor had massive stress fractures crisscrossing where it could be seen under the debris and the walls and ceiling were covered with scorch marks. Kris rose from where she crouched and helped Vala, who was still regaining her breath, climb to her feet. Chavolin walked up to them and looked both women over in awe. Then he took Vala's hand and pulled her around to stand front and center before the Retrievers. _

"_Retrievers, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to our newest member, Lieutenant Vala Shepard. In addition to holding the position as our team medical officer, she comes with a few tricks that just may help us out. I want you all to give her a big welcome." The stunned Retrievers stood there gawking as they were still processing what they had just seen. "Well, come on you bastards. She is feeling awkward enough already since some asshole just exposed her most personal secrets to her teammates."_

_A few chuckles were heard, and the spell was lifted. The Retrievers broke into grins and they came forward to hug the still breathless Quarian. Chavolin moved out of the way and went to stand next to Kris who was herself, still recovering from the fight. "Are you okay Admiral?"_

"_I'll be fine Commander. It has been a few years since I have had to fight that hard. Feels good, but Sam is going to be pissed when she hears what I did. I'll owe her a cooked meal for an apology. Maybe if I'm lucky I will get a massage out it." Chavolin laughed as he thought his own wife would probably be just as angry if it was him fighting like that. "I am proud of that girl though. She has kept up the training I told her to do. Must have been doing it in secret which is like her. She is a quiet person Commander. This will let her open more to her team. Unless they betray her, she will protect them as though they are her family. Maybe more than some of her family…" She shook her head sadly at the thought of the rift between Vala and Hanna. "Do not let her clam back up though. Make sure she continues to practice openly with her power. Perhaps not publicly, but with the team. She is growing stronger, I felt it when we fought. What she is, is something new and we don't know what that means yet. Watch over her Commander. Please, as a friend and as an order."_

_Chavolin nodded at Kris. "Of course, Admiral. Kris." He paused to look at Vala. The young Quarian was amid the team, answering questions, laughing at jokes and smiling as he had never seen her do before. Now she was a part of his team. _

Vala's thoughts returned to the present. "Commander, we knew we could do it. We had discussed on the way up that there were likely other mercs present in the cave. We figured there would be at least one or two with the hostages and possibly more. That is why we went with the flashbang. We could have taken the leader easily if was just him, but we doubted that was the case. We figured you did as well, or you wouldn't have needed us to flank him. There are a lot of ways we could have safely stopped him if it was just him, we were worried about. Once the grenade went off though we knew we would be on the clock to reach the hostages. That is why we leapt into the cave without you. It was dangerous yes, we knew that. All our actions are dangerous. That is why they send us. As far as Nelis' actions in the cave, they made sense. She is the better shot between us with a gun. I could not risk using my power against the mercs for fear of hitting the hostages and for me to be the diversion, if I went down, well, I'm the medic and that would basically be screwing myself, sir. With the mercs targeting Nelis, I could make the final shots safely. I would also be there in case Nelis' armor and shields failed."

Chavolin was silent while he processed the response. Finally, he sighed and nodded. "You made the right calls Lieutenant. I wish you had not needed to make them. I would hate to lose either one of you. Fortunately, you are both okay if a little bruised. The ambassador is safe, as is his family. Let's go home."

"Yes sir." Vala replied and the two officers made their way to join the rest of the crew at the shuttles. They returned to their ship and set a course back to the Citadel. By the next day, Nelis was awake and on her feet, stiff and bruised as the Commander predicted, but otherwise unharmed. Vala had made her rounds inspecting the Turian family and her other teammates. Aside from some minor lacerations and a few bumps and bruises, all were in fine health. The Turians were a bit malnourished, but after the few days the trip took to reach the Citadel, they showed no physical signs of anything ever being wrong. The nightmares would take longer to heal and Vala put them in touch with a counseling service that would meet them when they reached the Citadel.

Two days after returning the Ambassador safely to the Citadel, the Retrievers found themselves in dress uniforms standing at attention on a ceremony platform in front of the entire Council. Pinned to each member's chest was the Turian medal for bravery, given to them by Primarch Victus and a still grateful Ambassador Greivis. Another new addition to the group were the shiny new Lieutenant Commander bars on both Nelis and Vala's uniforms. In recognition of their outstanding service the Alliance had deemed it fit to meritoriously promote the two women.

The celebrations carried on well into the evening, with food and drink accompanied by live music giving the attendees plenty of reasons to stay. Vala had been trying for half an hour to escape and had been slowly making her way from conversation to conversation, ever closer to the door when a familiar voice shouted a greeting. With a beaming smile Vala spun around to see Miranda and Felicia Hannigan, formerly Miranda Lawson and Kelley Chamber respectively, heading towards her. Vala nearly ran to meet them. They exchanged hugs, and pleasantries as they were family. Perhaps not by blood, but blood does not define family.

"What are you both doing here? I didn't think anyone from back home was at the Citadel right now." Vala was overjoyed at seeing some old friendly faces. It had been a long time since she had been able to do more than video chat with any of her family.

"We had to come on some emergency business for the Academy Vala." Miranda responded. "Something big is brewing, we think. It's complicated and wrapped up in Liara." Vala understood what Miranda meant. Liara was the Shadow Broker, a dealer in secrets and information. Usually she didn't intervene unless it was of incredible importance. "If you are going to be on station till Friday you will likely see some more familiar faces. Liara and Diana are both already here, though they could not attend this function. I know that Samantha and Kris are both arriving in a couple of days."

"I'm not certain when we are leaving. I know Commander Chavolin had planned on giving us a few days, but I do not know what that means. We typically get leave till the next mission comes in. Sometimes that is days, sometimes we do not get off the shuttle. I've got some time saved up. I could ask to take some additional leave as I would love to see you all."

"Well, we can at least arrange another visit." Felicia said. "How about we meet for brunch in the morning. Away from all this noise and crowds. Let's just sit and catch up. I'll see if I can get Liara and Diana to join us for that. Sound good?"

"Sounds wonderful Felicia, thank you." Vala's genuine happiness at the offer radiated off the young woman. They chatted for a few more minutes before saying good night and parting. As Vala was leaving, Chavolin caught up to her.

"Vala, wait a minute." Vala stopped walking to allow her commander to catch up. She was tired and ready to go to bed, but she would listen to what he had to say. "I know your tired so I will be brief. I just got word that there is to be a meeting on Friday with the Council, and they want us there. I've already passed the word to the team that they were on leave till Thursday, but to be sure to be sober and present on Friday. I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with your friends, especially Admiral Hannigan. That woman scares me sometimes."

Vala laughed at that comment. "She does have that reputation. I guess I've never really seen her that way. Of course, growing up with Aunty Miri around the house, one wouldn't think of her as a scary person." Vala started laughing when she saw the uncomfortable look on the Turian commander's face with her familiar addressing of the Admiral. "I guess that is the first time you have ever heard someone address her as something other than Admiral or ma'am. You know, she really is just another human under that stone face expression she wears. You should hear her talk baby speak, and not just to babies either! You should see her around the cat!" Chavolin's obvious discomfort sent Vala into even more laughter. Over the years she had learned that with most Turians, to get them uncomfortable, start making fun of a superior officer. Strict military upbringing does not lend itself to humor about one's superiors.

Deciding to take pity on the Commander, she relented and gave him the reply he wanted. "I will be there Commander and before you ask, I will ensure Nelis is as well. I'm sure she has disappeared from here hours ago and you won't be able to find her till she wants you to."

Sighing with relief, Chavolin thanked her and departed. Vala took advantage of the opportunity to escape herself before someone else stopped her. She made her way through the Citadel to her apartment. It was her parents place, given to them by Admiral Anderson at the beginning of the war. It had taken damage when the Citadel exploded but was fortunately salvageable. They had offered John and Tali a new apartment, but they declined. This had been a gift from a dear friend and in it, they had made many happy memories. As had their friends. John and Tali did not visit the Citadel often so they loaned it out to friends for them to use.

Vala stripped off her uniform as she crossed the living room. Jacket thrown over a chair, boots kicked into a corner and her pants dropped on top of them till she stood in her panties and undershirt and grabbing a robe from the bathroom door she wrapped herself in the soft, comfort of fleece warmth. She released her long, midnight blue hair, like her mother's, from its tight bun at the back of her head. Finally, her body free from military regulations, she poured a drink at the bar and activated the picture screen above the fireplace. She collapsed on the couch and watched as a slideshow of family pictures played across the screen. She sipped on her drink as years of memories paraded in front of her eyes. Whenever she came here, she like to watch these pictures. As she reached the bottom of her drink, the slide show stopped. The final picture was the now famous group photo of her parents and their friends during their shore leave party, taken during the war. Front and center were her parents, facing each other, and at that moment oblivious to anything else. Next to them were Joker and EDI, also in love and not looking at the camera. It was the others though that had always amused her. They were not obvious things and she had only noticed them due to long hours spent looking at this picture. Kasumi's eyes, though shaded by her cowl, were shifted to look at James' ass. Liara was holding a data pad and when she had once blown up the picture, she could see an image of Diana on it as though Liara had been in a vid conference with the reported just before the picture had been taken and she had not disconnected. Samantha sat on the corner of the couch and behind her stood Kris, then going by Jack. Just over Sam's shoulder, at the base of her neck below her hair could just be made out a few tattooed fingers.

She had been jealous of them all. Not for being heroes, that was more a curse than blessing she was learning, but for their friendships. She had always struggled with making friends. It was her own doing she knew, but that only made it worse. Since joining the Retrievers, she had made huge progress in coming out of her shell as the Commander liked to say, but friendship outside of her team, and even within it, was still difficult for her. She sighed, finished her drink, placed the glass in the sink and made her way up the stairs to bed.

The following few days passed by in a blink. Vala had had a wonderful brunch that quickly turned into lunch and dinner with Miranda, Felicia, Liara and Diana. They spent the day catching up on what they were all doing, how the kids were and what they were up to. Vala told them about some of the missions she had done and then Liara announced that they had a spa day scheduled. The girls spent the afternoon being pampered and relaxing. It had been a much-needed unwinding for them all.

Now it was Friday and Vala was sitting in a small auditorium next to Nelis and the rest of the Retrievers. Around them sat many other members of the military and scientific communities. She recognized many of the leading people assembled and like most others, she was wondering what was about to happen.

From the front row, Diana Allers rose from her seat and walked up the stage to the empty podium in the center. "Good morning." She began and the assembly fell silent. "How many here are familiar with the Andromeda Initiative?"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 3.**

"How many here are familiar with the Andromeda Initiative?" Diana Allers question hung in the air over a silent audience. It was a rhetorical question as everyone in the room knew about the initiative to some extent. Members of the audience looked around at each other with questioning expressions. The Initiative was not a secret, at least not anymore. It had been jokingly referred to as the best known secrete of the galaxy for years. Still, when directly asked, governments would avoid the question and even the launch was done in relative secrecy and without the media. Then the Reaper war happened, and the Initiative had been forgotten. When the dust settled and the scientific communities resumed work, the public had lost interest. It was a mission that would not impact anyone for hundreds of years. The majority of those alive today, and several of the next generations would live and die before anything remotely useful came of that mission. Only some of the Asari and Krogan would live long enough to see it come to fruition.

"I take it by your silence that I have your attention at the very least." Diana resumed. "In a quick recap, the Andromeda Initiative left our galaxy in 2185 with ships called Arks containing members from all the council home worlds to chart a course, and settle in the Andromeda Galaxy, our closest neighbor, universally speaking. Why is this important today, is, I'm sure, the question you are all wanting answered? I will explain.

In 2183, Saren and the Reaper Sovereign attacked the Citadel to usher in the Reapers to begin a cycle of extermination. They were defeated. While to the public, the Council denied the existence of the Reapers, privately, many governments heeded then Commander Shepard's warnings. One of their reactions was to alter the Andromeda Initiative's goals. They feared that the galaxy could be on the verge of an extinction. Knowledge of the Reapers was still sketchy in those days, but what they could agree on, and all that really mattered, was that the Reapers had wiped out the Protheans before us. If they were coming back, they could wipe us out as well. Therefore, they sent with the Initiative precautions to ensure that the species of this galaxy would survive, if not here than elsewhere.

Thanks to a Quarian exploration team, they discovered that the Geth had constructed an observation array at the edge of the Perseus Veil to monitor dark space. The array was old when the Quarians found it, but functional. The Initiative used it to help obtain better scans of the Andromeda galaxy, in time, we would use it to scan and monitor dark space. After the Reaper war was over and people had time to catch their breath, a big question was asked by many. If Reapers lived in dark space, what else was out there and is it a threat?

It would take another two years before a Salarian scientist who had helped on the Initiative remembered the Geth array. With the Geth and Quarians now at peace, the Salarians approached them and inquired about using it to scan dark space. He explained that the Andromeda Initiative was to leave beacons, scanning devices that would also act as sensor relays to help expand our knowledge of dark space, potentially acting as a warning device and with some luck, provide a way to communicate with our future settlers. Using the array as a base of operations could enhance our abilities to utilize the beacons. An agreement was reached, and the array was restored and brought back into active service. The beacons were found, and active scans began to take place.

During the restoration, the discovery as to why the Geth built the station was revealed. Old logs told that the Geth had suspected traffic in dark space due to unexplained sightings of alien ships occasionally being recorded. They built the array and had managed to record a few instances of ship movement foreign to know vessels. The frequencies of these sightings had increased leading up to the War and subsequently declined after. For several years, nothing new was found. The beacons continued to operate, and data collected, but they did not discover anything new. A few years ago, new sightings appeared.

The vessels were not any of ours nor were they Reapers. They bore similar characteristics to past sightings, though they were a more advanced design. A couple had actively scanned our beacons and were found to be on trajectories that, while carrying them out of our effective monitoring zones, would still bring them within the galaxy. There is likely one or more alien species observing us for reasons we do not yet know. That is, however, not what concerns us the most.

A year ago, we received an automated message from the Quarian Ark that it had encountered an alien species that had attempted communications and even tried to board. As the crew is in stasis, the ship activated its automated defenses and there was a brief battle. The Ark escaped but was off course. We do not know anything more about the Quarian Ark and for now, they are out of reach. We do however know a bit more about the ship that it encountered. Not long after that message was received, we received another. This time it was from the alien ship. They had discovered one of the beacons and used it to send a message, though admittedly, we do not fully understand it as we are having a difficult time translating the language.

Since then we have been working towards deciding how best to respond. The beacons were designed to transmit simple data, not video or audio communications. The plan to make a true communications relay between us and the Andromeda galaxy was thought to be a problem to be worked out later with the beacons acting as a base for future developments. After all, the journey itself would take four-hundred years. In theory, technology could easily evolve to that point by then. In addition to our technological limitations, there is also the language barrier. We cannot understand each other at this point.

Therefore, knowing that direct communications would be difficult, the decision was made to fly out and meet them which is why you are all here today. No one single race, government or agency had all the elements needed to make this possible. Travelling dark space is essentially going into the unknown. We have only basic understanding of what is there, so we need the best our galaxy has to offer. Fortunately, we had already done something similar with the Andromeda mission, unfortunately, that information was also largely classified.

At that point, most of the work had been handled by the Salarians who oversaw the array. Captain Verel is the commanding officer and he reported the findings to the Council as well as our request for the Andromeda data. Our new Council is far more proactive than previous ones had been and after listening to his presentation and confirming what they had been told, they appropriate steps.

Captain Verel was given permission and the backing of the Council to contact who he needed to put together a plan to intercept this vessel, learn who and what they are, and ascertain if they posed a threat or if they are a potential ally. The Captain acted immediately. He contacted Admiral Samantha Thibodaux with the Shepard Academy Experimental Department. The mission would require a ship capable of making the journey and an entirely new communications system that could reach back to the array as well as translate a new language. It would need weapons and defensive capabilities, a fast drive core and be able to support a full crew for years. Estimates on the distance varied, but based on where the message originated from, and accounting for a reasonable expectation of delays, most of the team estimated a round trip of at least two years.

It has taken many months of planning, made difficult by the necessity to keep it secret, but we are now ready. In three weeks, our ship will depart to intercept this alien ship and attempt to make contact. Commanding the mission is Captain Verel and Admiral Samantha Thibodaux handling both the military and scientific segments of the mission respectively. I, and the Asari ambassador Neela Voln will handle the diplomatic side. Joining us will be a small team picked for their various specialties as well as a full crew to maintain the ship and its operations.

While some of you may already know all or part of what I have said, many others are probably wondering why you are here. It is simple. Everyone who will be actively involved on this mission is in this room. Some of you will be going with us, most of you will remain here in various support roles. These will be explained by your commanding officers after this briefing. Right now, you will all be receiving your orders by omni tool. In a minute we will adjourn, and you will report to the assigned rooms for further information."

Vala, seeing that her own omni tool was blinking indicating that she had a message, opened it and saw that she was to report to conference room 105 - command. She looked at Nelis who shook her head in response and showed Vala her own message; conference room 112 – combat and security. They hugged and separated each headed towards their respective rooms promising to meet up afterwards. Vala didn't have far to go to reach conference room 105 and she wanted a moment to clear her head and let the new information settle. Strolling to a window, she leaned against the handrail and let her gaze roam over the presidium grounds.

In the twenty plus years since the Citadel's destruction, vast changes had taken place. She constantly heard people who had seen it prior discussing those changes in design, décor and function. The council had decided that it was time to make the Citadel a true reflection of the galaxy and its citizens. As a result, when they rebuilt, they used architectural styles and elements from all the races. Soaring Asari spires towered over squat, utilitarian Turian complexes that sat next to extravagant Volus banks and deep warehouses. Water fountains dotted the landscape with their basins draining into interconnected waterways that flowed through manicured terraces covered in grasses, trees and flowers from all corners of the galaxy creating a myriad of colors and shapes. Vala was used to seeing beautiful gardens in her parent's backyard on Rannoch, but she had to admit, the presidium put them to shame. She enjoyed the view for another minute before turning to proceed to the conference room. Putting on the military bearing she had been trained to present, Vala walked with purpose across the hall, through the doors, to find out what her orders would be.

"Vala, welcome!" Greeted Admiral Samantha Thibodaux as the young Quarian entered the room. Vala quickly snapped to attention and saluted the senior officer. The Admiral smiled and returned the salute in kind. "At ease Vala. We are rather informal when it is just us." Samantha smiled and Vala visibly relaxed. With her parents having so many friends as high ranking officers in multiple militaries, Vala had quickly learned that the easy-going friendships and family familiarity that she had grown up with would require suspension now that she herself was an officer. At least in public. Private life was different and keeping those distinct personalities separate was the key to success and not being accused of nepotism. Vala wanted to be known for her own accomplishments. She wanted to earn her own awards and recognition. She had spent her entire childhood as the daughter of the famous John and Tali Shepard. Now it was time to be simply Vala.

"Good to see you again Admiral. I must admit, I was not expecting to be summoned to this room. I figured I would be down with the combat units as a field medic." As she spoke, Vala began to take notice of the others in the room. Aside from Samantha and the expected Captain Verel, she noted a few more familiar faces. Diana Allers was not a surprise as she had already announced that she was going and standing next to her was the afore mentioned Asari Ambassador Voln of whom Vala had met once before if only briefly.

Voln, an Asari matriarch, had been one of the few Asari to serve on C-Sec prior to the Reaper War. She was as passionate about helping people as she was maintaining law and order and had considered becoming a Justicar for some time before deciding that she wanted to work with more than just her own people. At the young age of seventy-five, by Asari standards, she applied and was accepted to C-Sec academy. A rising star early on in her career, she was highly respected by both her superiors and the citizens she worked among establishing a reputation as someone both strict and fair. She was welcomed in the district and often could stop a dispute simply by entering the room. Of course, she was also a powerful biotic which she had been forced to demonstrate on a few occasions.

The turning point in her career had come a little over one-hundred years after signing on. She had been investigating rumors of a corrupt Volus banker and his ties to a red sand operation when she found herself caught up in the middle of a robbery of the very bank, she was in. For years, C-Sec had been chasing a well-armed and skillful group that had been robbing banks, museums, anything that could yield high end monetary amounts, to no avail, but while the group's luck had run out that day, Voln's was in full swing. Over the course of three hours, she managed to talk the group down and force a surrender without anyone getting hurt. She kept her calm throughout the entire ordeal and even the criminals admitted that she had dealt with them fairly and kept her word.

Form that day onward, Voln became C-Sec's hostage negotiator and crisis management lead. She still worked daily on the streets, maintaining the relationships she had cultivated with the citizens and the results showed as Voln had the safest ward on the citadel. Of course, many challenged her position, both criminally and from within C-Sec, but she dealt with them in much the same ways. She would offer chances to cease, correct themselves and improve or simply leave. When they refused to cooperate or when they reneged, she put an end to it by non-lethal means as often as she could, but she was not above killing when required.

When the citadel had been invaded by the Reapers in 2187, Voln had rescued many civilians and led them to escape shuttles and safety. She had just turned eight hundred. After the war, the Asari matriarch who was the most senior surviving C-Sec officer still alive, worked with the other Captains and Commanders willing to return to reestablish the decimated security force. In addition to helping to rebuild and restructure C-Sec, she spent a considerable amount of time travelling off station to find new recruits. She had developed a knack for convincing people to go to the Citadel that she gained the nick name, "Ambassador." When Captain Verel realized that he may very well need an ambassador to the new aliens, he could think of no one better. After all, three of his family members worked for her.

Vala had met the Asari woman at a rather surprising event, her marriage. Voln had never married in her eight hundred plus years. Dedicating her life to C-Sec and the people she protected had been good enough. After the Reaper War and becoming a matriarch she began to examine her life and realized that she may have made a mistake in foregoing her own happiness. There had been relationships in the past, she wasn't a rock, but nothing that had lasted. There had been one person though recently who had sparked her interest and had even asked her out once. They had gone to a bar and had a few drinks, a good evening and a better night followed by a pleasant morning before work, but like most of her past relationships, she let it slide so it would not come between her and her work. Deciding it was time to correct this, she had marched into his office one day and asked him if he was still interested and would like to get dinner. A few years later when Vala was twelve, she and Hanna were the flower girls at their father's friend Bailey and Voln's wedding.

Vala's gaze left Voln and passed by Captains Jeff and EDI Moreau who were in deep conversation with a Salarian she did not recognize. She smiled at seeing them and felt a little more relieved at additional friendly faces. Next to them was a Turian officer known only to her by reputation, Commander Reilus Lexandrius.

Lexandrius had been a child in the Reaper War, however he had taken up arms and defended the bunker where nearly two-hundred other Turian children had hidden on Palaven after their guardians were killed. He and the six other senior children fought off the Reaper forces for two weeks before a rescue team could reach them. Seeing how well the youths had handled themselves, and being desperately short on soldiers, the Turians gave them better arms and armor and ordered them to guard the new safehouse. For the remainder of the war Lexandrius led his small team, reinforced by more of the senior youth as they were brought to the bunker, and no reaper breached his lines. The Turian military began to refer to them as Parva Mortem, which meant small deaths.

After the war, Lexandrius officially joined the Turian military, as did many of those who fought beside him and the Parva Mortem was officially established as a special operations team used to claim and hold colonies till full forces could arrive. Over the years, they were responsible for reclaiming over a dozen colonies from mercenary factions and not just for the Turians. As the different races slowly looked again to expansion and resettling lost colonies, the need for a group that could hold it long enough to establish a full-strength security force was rapidly growing and Lexandrius' squad was at the top of that list. When it came to people who knew how to defend something, there was nobody better than the Turian Vala now watched.

"Hey Vala!" The sound of her name from a familiar source interrupted the Quarian's thoughts from the Turian Commander. Turning she came face to face with an old friend, Angela Thibodaux. Angela was Sam and Kris' eldest child. Their son Kyle was a couple of years younger and back on Earth working as a sous chef in a restaurant in New Orleans as he wanted nothing to do with military life. Angela had been Vala's best friend through childhood and being born only months apart, they were in the same schools and classes together. Both were quiet, introverted children, preferring to keep within their isolated comfort zones rather than amidst their classmates and could often be found sequestered in corners or out of the way locations during free times.

Like her mother Samantha, Angela was an incredibly smart woman, who excelled at creative thinking. She had won every science fair their schools had organized and had followed her mother's footsteps into communications improving upon many of the system her mother had designed and eventually partnering with her mother to create the latest in long range communications which was now being deployed on their mission into dark space. Her intelligence however was not the only gift her parents gave her.

Kris Thibodaux was unquestionably the most powerful biotic alive and possibly one the most powerful to have existed. That achievement was a mixed bag of emotion for Kris due to it being a contamination by her own parents, augmented by terrible experimentation by Cerberus and refined through lifelong experiences of anger, pain and torment, then perfected by love. Kris' power was a part of her genetic makeup and as such, passed on to her children. Angela and her brother Kyle had both been trained by Kris to control their power since they were infants. The immense power that the kids could generate was as terrifying as it was awe inspiring. When they were babies, it was not uncommon for Kris or Sam to find them hovering in a blue bubble of biotic energy inches above their crib mattress. Growing up Kris had enlisted the help of their friend Samara to teach them control. Neither Kris nor Samantha wanted to stifle their abilities, they just didn't want the kids accidentally hurting themselves, others or blowing up the house during a temper tantrum.

As Angela grew up, so to her power increased. She listened to her parents and Samara and didn't flaunt it or use it in front of the other kids at school. It was dangerous and not something to be played with she was repeatedly told. As a dutiful daughter she listened, mostly. It was not however unusual to find two nine year old girls, a Quarian-Human hybrid throwing rocks over the ocean in a well-hidden cove while a human with long brown hair tied back in a pony tail, in tattered jeans and an old t-shirt featuring her favorite game Kepesh-Yakshi blasting them out of the air with bolts of biotic power.

When Vala and her siblings' power was awakened within them during the attack on Earth, Angela now had something even more in common with her best friend. It had taken her only a few hours to crack Vala's secret after the Shepard's recovery. She remembered it well as she was there on Earth when it happened. Granted, she was in the hotel safe with the other children at the time of the attack, but she had seen the videos, after all her parents had been first onsite, and she knew something was wrong with her friend. Cracking Vala's secret had been an easy enough thing to do. They were on the ship headed back to Rannoch when she saw Vala returning to her room after talking to John and Tali. She ran up to her and grabbing the girl by the arm she pulled her into a storage compartment, sat her down and got her to talk. Vala had been reluctant at first, but also desperate to talk to someone who would listen and understand. They talked through the night and from then on, they would secretly experiment with Vala's power.

Their teenage years went as most do, changes good and bad compounded with powers that threatened to overwhelm them at times and of course, sex. Nothing like raging hormones to add to the stress of trying to remain calm in order to keep cataclysmic powers in check to build a friendship stronger than the very bedrock of the planet upon which they stood. The girls became nearly inseparable and through that they thrived. Studying together, playing together, they were each other's strength. When one had a rough day, the other was there with a hug and an ear. When a lesson at school was beyond grasping, the other found a way to make it reachable. When the time came for dating, they were there to ease pre-date worries, whisper and giggle about kissing and who was cute and provide that shoulder to cry on when the relationship broke up. Above all though, they kept each other's secrets, and none were more important to the two girls as when they snuck off to their hidden beach and let loose with their power. They had learned that they could shield themselves from the other to allow that person to cut loose with everything they had in an outflow of raw energy. It was dangerous to do, though they took precautions and always directed the energy to disperse harmlessly over the ocean waters. Still, had they been caught, or had an accident happened and someone gotten hurt, they would have been in serious trouble.

Eventually, as always, time moved on. The girls grew up to become young women. Smart, beautiful and still best of friends. They walked together at their graduation on Rannoch, enlisted in the Alliance military and went through Officer Candidate School to graduate as new Ensigns in the Alliance Navy before shipping off to their specialized training. For the first time in her life, Angela would not have Vala at her side. Her Quarian friend was off to become a medic while she was headed to the Advanced Science Labs on Sur'Kesh. The various council races now had many joint training commands within their militaries and the Salarian's science division was one of them. This was an elite school of only the top one percent of candidates in any given year across the entire galaxy. The classes averaged around thirty people per year for a four-year period under the training of the Salarian Tasks Group.

Angela had blossomed under the tutelage of the Salarians, learning new concepts and sharing ideas with some of the smartest minds in the galaxy. As with most things the Salarians do, the classes were fast paced, intense yet thorough. Long days followed by long nights repeated over and over, yet Angela never faltered. Oh, she was tired and stressed, worried about failing, but every morning she dragged herself out of bed, grabbed her coffee and resumed her studies. Her senior year was mixed with field time on STG missions exposing her to the results of their work in the labs. Not all these missions were the feel-good sort. Many revealed the darker sides of what their work could do. Failures often meant death. Sometimes to themselves or to another, sometimes at genocidal levels. She learned that poisons could be cures while some cures are poisons. Even in an unsuspecting field as communications, failures had the potential for devastating consequences. If someone needed an emergency call and the device failed or the signal transmitted improperly, how many deaths would take place before it was corrected? If a diplomatic transmission was intercepted because encryption failed, how many wars would that start? They taught her that all actions have real world consequences and even the best intentions can be devastating.

After the requisite four-year training period, she had been assigned as a junior communications officer to a joint Alliance, STG recon team deployed to investigate remote areas of various systems for signs of illegal activities. They often operated with no direct contact to command, running dark and in stealth mode so as not to send those they were looking for into hiding. These types of searches had become mandatory as there was simply still too much unpatrolled space where former colonies existed. These deserted colonies, outposts and space stations had become perfect breeding grounds for the criminal underground. Angela's most challenging duty during this time was finding ways to not only encrypt their reports, but to completely hide or disguise the signal to go undetected. Not only was Angela's work a success, many of their messages were the leads that The Retrievers were assigned to investigate.

Through all of this, Angela and Vala had remained close friends. The two young women continuously exchanged vid messages and met up whenever they were able which proved to be often as their ships made port in many of the same colonies. Angela had been proud of the improvements Vala had made with herself, gaining confidence and becoming more open. Hearing about her friend's successes with the Retrievers brought her a happiness for the woman she could not describe. For too many years she had been by Vala's side watching her suffer unfairly by both her siblings, but more importantly, by her own self.

"Hey Vala!" Angela called out as she saw her friend enter the room. Finally, after these past several years apart, they were reunited and assigned to the same ship. Angela felt as though the universe had corrected a wrong and she was whole again.

Vala too was extremely happy to see her childhood friend and as Angela walked up, Vala pulled her in for a deep hug. "Hey you! It's been a while. I didn't see you in the audience. Have you been assigned to the mission?"

"I was there, but I was sitting beside a couple of Krogan and well, as you know I'm not that big and those guys are huge!" Angela and Vala both let out a small laugh at that. Angela was indeed rather small. Even in her military boots, she was just over the five-foot mark in height, with an athletic build from countless hours of swimming in the pools and rivers of Sur'Kesh. Inheriting her mother Kris' temperament along with the biotics had caused many to give her the nickname Chaotic Pixie. Angela had lovingly accepted the name with a tattoo on her upper shoulder of the fairy creature in a rather provocative set of clothes, wielding a gun in one hand, a margarita in the other while her eyes glowed with biotic light and her face bore a smile that made one wonder if she was going to kiss you or eat you. It had been a courtesy of "uncle" James Vega one night right after graduating boot camp. Admittedly, the girls had been drunk, and James had given them plenty of chances to back out. "Aunt" Kasumi had not stopped laughing the next morning when they all sobered up and Angela realized what she had done. She embraced it though and lived up to the image inked into her skin.

"Do you know why we are here in command?" Vala asked as they pulled apart from their hug. "Has your mom said anything?"

"No. Mom has always been good about separating herself between family and work. While I'm sure she knows, if told to keep it quiet, neither her nor momma Kris will speak. It has always been one of the things that frustrated me to no end as a child, and something I respect them immensely for now."

The sound of someone tapping on a table cut off conversations throughout the room. The girls, along with the others in attendance turned to look at Admiral Thibodaux who was standing at the center of the room. "We are all here now so let us begin." She took a pause and a breath then began. "I want to welcome you all to the crew of the New Horizons. Some of you here are career veterans and for others, this will be your first command assignment, but none of you are here by accident. When Captain Verel and I started to assemble a team to lead this expedition, we knew we needed the best and that does not always mean the oldest or most experienced. Sometimes age slows us down. Sometimes experience traps us in our way of thinking. A few months ago, we began asking around for who was the best in their fields. We listened carefully to the responses and we soon knew who we wanted on board.

As you already know Captain Lin Verel and I, command the mission. The Asari Ambassador, Neela Voln will act as our diplomatic liaison between us and the aliens. Diana Allers will be our documentarian. Captains Jeff and EDI Moreau will be our pilots and control cyber warfare while Commander Reilus Lexandrius will oversee security and combat. Lieutenant Commander Vala Shepard is our Chief Medical Officer." At this Vala's eyes went wide. "Lieutenant Commander Angela Thibodaux our Communications Officer and Lieutenant Sel Vedra is our Chief Engineer." Samantha concluded putting a name to the unknown Salarian.

"Welcome aboard all of you." Samantha resumed. "We have mission briefing packets ready for you to study later. For now, I will give a quick summary and let you go. We have a lot to do in a short period of time.

In three weeks, we will depart Rannoch aboard a new ship designed specifically for dark space exploration, the _New Horizons_. The ship, designed in the experimental division at the Shepard Academy is equipped not just with the latest in available technology, but with custom systems designed specifically for this mission. Engines, weapons, life support, communications, stealth drive and more built for this ship alone. That is one of the major reasons we needed people who are not entrenched in tradition. We need people who can adapt to the unknown instantly. We are about to take a new ship, with new technology into a largely unknown area of space to intercept an unknown alien species to determine if they are hostile and pose a threat, the vanguard of something larger, an ally or any combination of. We do not know how to communicate with them let alone if they can even breath the same atmosphere, yet we are still going.

When we leave, we do not for certain know when we will return. Our best estimates based on where the signal originated combined with guesses as to the speed of the alien vessel have this at a two-year round trip. The objective is simple. We intercept the vessel, determine status of aliens, return with or without them depending on how events develop. Ultimately, we hope to return with a new ally, but if they prove to be hostile, our orders are to capture if possible and if not to eliminate them and recover any usable data.

Including us in this room, we will have fifty souls onboard, you have rosters of who is under your charge with your briefings. Our ship can support two-hundred fifty comfortably and double that if we must. We also have cryogenic chambers if needed for us or the aliens. Hopefully we will not, but as I've said, we do not know how long this will take, how many aliens we will be meeting or if they are hostile. We must be prepared for anything.

I only want to say one more thing before I dismiss you to meet your crews. I am honored to have you all on my team and to be a part of this historic moment in history. The events that will transpire over the next couple of years will affect this galaxy in many ways. To be at the forefront of it will test us all in ways we can only guess at. We will need each other and know that I will do all within my power to ensure the safety and success of my crew and the mission. Know that my door is always open. Please come to me with anything. I will be on the Citadel for two more days then I will be back on Rannoch till we depart. Does anyone have any questions at this time?" Samantha looked at each officer in turn and seeing no response continued. "Very well. Dismissed."

The officers exchanged salutes with the admiral, turned and exited the conference room to meet their crews. Vala hugged Angela one more time and promised to meet up later and to introduce her to Nelis. They agreed on dinner and Vala promised to send the location once she secured reservations. The girls separated and Vala stayed back to talk with Samantha. Walking back towards her new commanding officer, she made eye contact with the woman and saw Samantha smiling. "Admiral." Vala began.

"Vala. Please, Sam is fine when we are alone. You know this."

"I know, but you are more than that now. You are my commanding officer and I have an Alliance question for you." Vala was about to speak her question, but Samantha interrupted.

"You want to know why you are Chief Medical Officer at your age and experience. Even your rank, while considerable is still typically more of junior position not a senior one. You want to know if the decision is made because of our relationship and who your parents are or based on your own merit. Does that about sum it up?" Sam waited while Vala nodded her agreement. "Then let me put you at ease. I did not pick you for the position. Don't misunderstand, I am overjoyed at having you with me, and I can think of no one better or that I would trust more than you. When we began our selection process, we let the community decide who was to go. We interviewed many people in all the fields we were needing and asked them to recommend someone for the position. Basically, we let the people you served with do a blind vote and they recommended you."

"What did you ask them?"

"For your position? One question. If stranded without support who would you want in charge of your medical team? Everyone who had ever served with or been treated by you unanimously said your name. I can think of no higher recommendation than that. Does that put you at ease?"

Vala shook her head a let out a little laugh. "I'm not sure if that gives me relief or more anxiety to live up to people's expectations, but I thank you for telling me. I'm assuming it was the same for Angela too?" Sam looked at Vala for a minute before responding. Vala's eyes showed their normal white glow, the blue specks calmly swirling within their depth, but anxiety was still etched on the young Quarian's face. Sam nodded in understanding.

"Angela is worried that I chose her out of nepotism, and you are worried for her as well. She is too scared to ask me and so you are asking for her correct? You two have always been close, I thank you for that Vala."

"You don't need to thank me for being her friend Sam. Angela has been there for me more than I for her. I'm the true freak in this family remember. She could have walked away; I had nowhere to go." Sam's face went angry as Vala spoke those words.

"Do not ever let me hear you talk like that again, Lieutenant Commander." She spoke the words with a force and authority that Vala knew would allow no argument. "You are not a freak and you are not without a place in this life. You are a brilliant, talented and beautiful woman. You have earned everything you have. Yes, your childhood was unfairly rough on you, I understand well as if you recall, I was there. That has only made you into the powerful woman you have become and believe me as a mother when I tell you that you have done as much if not more for my Angela than you realize." Samantha fell silent and watched the emotions flitter across Vala's face. She could tell that the Quarian wanted to say more. There was an internal conflict within the woman, but Sam was not going to push. She had a feeling that whatever the issue was, it was something that at least for now, Vala would need to deal with on her own.

"To answer your question, Angela was selected in the same way you were. You will tell her that for me?" Vala nodded. "Good. Then it is time you go meet your medical staff. They are waiting for their Chief to give them their orders." Vala again saluted the Admiral and turned to leave but before she could fully turn around Samantha wrapped her in a hug. No words were said as Vala let herself sag into the warm embrace. Then it was over, and the new Chief Medical Officer of the _New Horizons_ marched out of the room and into her first command.

Bright light dimmed her vision as the Rannoch sun beat down upon the desert plateau. The gentle breeze that was typical atop the high, desert plains brought with it the scents of the many fragrant flowers that dotted the landscape and were in full bloom this time of year. The rocky dirt that prevailed across most of the land was held at bay here by the lush lawns surrounding her parent's house. The green grasses normally only found in the lower valleys, tickled her bare feet as she slowly crossed the yard. Wearing just a simple, light dress, white except for a lilac trim at the hems, perfect for the hot Rannoch temperatures, and with her long hair loose, billowing behind her like streamers in the breeze, she presented a picture of carefree happiness to any who would have happened by.

Vala was far from carefree, but today, she was truly relaxed and happy. Carrying a tray with lemonade, she took in the grounds around her. The familiar sights and smells of her childhood home, trying her best to capture and remember every detail before she deployed in the morning. Ahead past the fountain spilling water into the clear, blue swimming pool, two figures sat on a bench looking out over the garden grounds that gradually fell away to the ocean below. John Shepard, now sixty-one could easily be mistaken for twenty years younger. If not for the ever-present cane by his side, he would be the picture of an ideal soldier looking much as he did during his days of active duty except for the smile on his face, something the military life rarely let him show.

Beside him holding his hand was his wife, Vala's mother, Tali Shepard. Despite being fifty-four years old, one could easily mistake Tali as Vala's sister instead of mother. Admiral Shala'Raan had more than once remarked that Vala was the very image of Tali as a child and being one of the few people to have ever seen Tali outside of her suit when she was a child, Raan would know. The only remarkable difference between the two women lay in the eyes. Where Vala's were a glowing white with an ever-moving array of blue sparks, Tali's were a solid blue glow that identically matched her husband's. Tali too wore a radiant smile as on her face which, if possible, seemed to glow brighter still as Vala laid the tray of drinks on a small table before taking her own seat on a bench across from her mom and dad.

John took the pitcher of lemonade and poured three drinks, handing one to Tali and Vala as he finished. "Too the Lieutenant Commander on her first posting of Chief Medical Officer."

"We love you sweetheart and are very proud of all you have done." Tali followed as the three people raised their glasses in salute. Tali truly was proud of all that Vala had done with her life. She was pained and frustrated with her children and the way they treated each other due to the choices she and John had made and hated what it had done to them, but she was proud that Vala had started to embrace it rather than let it hold her back. The last few years had seen her daughter excel in many ways and this assignment was proof that it wasn't just a mother's eyes that saw how great Vala was.

John too was proud of his daughter and his thoughts were on much the same track as Tali's. He had often felt helpless during her childhood, especially during her teenage years, as she had suffered with learning to control a power, he knew little enough about himself to able to teach someone else. Later, when she had told them just how much it had affected her, especially after their brief death, far beyond what either he or Tali knew, he was furious with himself for putting that on his children. He remembered raging at the night, cursing fate, god, anyone who would listen before Tali had calmed him down. The thought that he had caused undo harm to his children was not something he could easily forgive.

In the years since, he had worried endlessly for Vala. The day Kris had told him about the fight she had had with Vala on the Citadel in the Retrievers training room had sent him pacing the room until with a combined effort from Kris and Tali, they managed to settle him back into his chair so that Kris could continue her story ending that Vala had been accepted by all her teammates and appeared to be thriving when Kris had departed and couple of weeks later. Over the following years, John kept a close watch on Vala, if from afar and through proxies, and became convinced that she was indeed thriving and doing far better than ever before. His pride and happiness for his daughter grew and today he had a present for her to show her just how much.

On the grass beside his bench sat a military footlocker. Low and long in size with just enough room for proper storage of clothing, armor, weapons, and a few personal items. Just the necessities a good marine requires. Setting down his glass, John slid the container over to his daughter. "In honor of your promotion and new assignment, your mother and I got something for you."

Vala quickly set her own glass aside as she picked up the footlocker. Setting it on the table between them, she released the locks and lifted the lid. Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes teared up as the contents came into view. Within lay a beautiful set of armor that she knew instantly was a custom order. She recognized the components immediately as she had seen them in development in her mother's labs during her last visit home.

The body was made of a flexible material more akin to a jumpsuit than traditional armor. Gone were the rigid plates that covered body and arms that her father had worn. The suit's material was made of a synthetic blend of metals and fiber that defied Vala's understanding beyond knowing it would stop most rounds, was fire resistant and insulated against the cold. It would cover her entire body, legs and arms from her ankles to her head, stopping just under her jaw line. A durable pair of boots specially designed for the Quarian peoples three claw-toed feet buckled over the legs to form seal against the lower leg. Likewise, gloves would cover her hands and seal against the arms, the helmet would finish the assembly and when complete, form a fully functioning environmental suit.

As Vala continued to examine the suit, details emerged. She could see the plates on the bottom of the boots for mag-lock function as well as tiny booster for jump assistance. The palms and underside of the fingers were lined with a tougher fabric for better grip while the backs had a slight rise just behind the knuckles for lighting and scanning. Over the body of the suit was a tactical webbing containing the combat shield emitters, weapon holsters, thermal clip pouches and clips for any combination of accessories that the mission may require. While all of this was amazing, what made Vala tear up was the coloring. The fabric had been designed with an intricate pattern of purple and silver lines, swirling across the surface of the arms in an exact replica of the pattern on her mother's suit. The torso, while black overall, had two bands of the pattern running from the back of the shoulders, around the sides to cross one over the other at waist level where they returned to the back only to wrap around and terminate on the thighs. The final touch was on the helmet itself which had been made in the traditional Quarian fashion and bore a cowl again in matching design to the one Tali had worn.

John and Tali watched as Vala ran her fingers over the material, feeling and examining her gift. The tears that fell from their daughter's eyes were matched in kind by her parents. After some time Vala placed the suit back in the footlocker and stood up. Quickly moving around the table, she embraced both her mom and dad, hugging them tightly and stuttering out her thanks. The three family members stayed like that for several long minutes reveling in the comfort of a family's love.

"Mom, dad, this is incredible! Thank you, so much." Vala managed to say as they pulled apart.

"We wanted to do something special for you as this is a big moment in your life." John replied to his daughter. "Practicality aside, we wanted it to be something that would remind you of home and those who love you. Your mom remembered how you loved the fabric patterns on her old environmental suit so much that we had a dress made of the same pattern when you were a little girl."

"I pulled that old suit out of storage just for this reason." Tali chimed in. "I brought it to the Academy and displayed it so the students sewing the fabrics would know exactly what I wanted, and they came through brilliantly."

"It is perfect mom. I can't wait to wear it tomorrow." Vala's comm chirped. "Crap! I must run. I promised Krios I would have dinner with him tonight. Mom, dad, thank you again for the wonderful gift. I love you both, very much."

"We love you too sweetheart." Tali replied. "We will be there in the morning to see you off." Vala closed the footlocker after stowing suit and she embraced both of her parents one more time then set off to meet her brother.

A short shuttle ride later followed by the usual greetings, her and Krios were sitting at his table enjoying a meal. It had been a couple of years since the two had sat down together. While Krios did not harbor the same resentments, Hanna did about Vala and her powers, he had remained aloof from his older sister. As a child, he had looked up to Hanna more than Vala. Vala had scared him. Not in a mean way nor of anything specifically that she had done, more of simply who she was and what she could do. Vala's power would randomly explode from her, usually when she was upset or stressed. As a result, Krios had learned to walk as though on eggshells or avoid her altogether. That behavior, combined with Vala's reclusive nature, caused him to become closer with Hanna and naturally, developed similar ideas.

Now that he was a full adult and, having spent many years living on his own and becoming exposed to new ideas and attitudes along with becoming better educated, he had begun to regret his strained relationship with Vala. Change had started slow and was still on unsteady footing, but after the last year of increasing communications, they had agreed to have dinner together. The idea had been Krios'. Vala had sent him a message informing him of her promotion and assignment. Krios, while happy for his sister's success, was worried that her leaving on this mission may end his chances of making amends. He did not want his sister to leave without seeing her again.

He invited her over to his apartment for dinner. Cooking a meal himself, one of their favorites from childhood, he now sat across from his older sister while they made small talk. It was nice. They had caught each other up on their achievements both at work and personally. Krios had been nominated for an award in architectural design by the Quarian Historical Society for his design of a new town center for Rannoch's newest city whose founding was scheduled to start in a few months. He was also engaged now. A fellow Quarian architect in the firm he had been hired into. They had been together for almost two years and a week ago he had taken her out to the site of the new city they had designed and proposed. She had said yes. They did not have a date planned yet but, would likely be married before Vala returned. She had congratulated him and made him promise to send pictures if they are able.

After the meal, Vala had helped him clean up and he made them a couple of drinks before they moved to the couch. Krios had been dreading this part of the night, but knew he had to do. He took another sip of his whiskey to steady himself before starting. "Val, I need to say something." He paused and looked at his sister who had quickly gone into a stiff, stone faced expression. "I need to say that I am sorry. I'm sorry for the way I acted towards you when we were kids. Always taking Hana's side and not sticking up for you. The truth is, I feared you, the power, all of it. When we were attacked that day in the park, I saw what could happen, what power and fame can bring. I didn't understand it all then but, I knew I didn't like it. I tried to distance myself from it and Hanna did the same. I felt lost and I was confused. Hanna gave me, what I thought was clarity. She simplified it for me into good and bad. For a long time that was enough for me.

Eventually though, I started to see things that didn't align with what Hanna was saying. The older I became, the more I began to question. When mom and dad died, I admit I reverted to simpler beliefs. It was my way of grieving and I could assign blame. I placed that blame on the power. Had it not been there, mom and dad would be alive. They would be safe at home and we would still be a family. I was angry and that anger blinded me to you. You who carried that same power that had destroyed our family and left us orphans. When you had that episode at the memorial, I was disgusted, and the anger flared anew. When mom and dad returned, I went to a dark place for a time, at least when it came to the power. About a year later I finally worked up the nerve to talk to them about it, what it had done, what it could do and how I felt.

While the talk was a good one, I was still torn. I took a vacation during the school recess and on the advice of Kris, I travelled to the monastery on Lesuss and there I spent time alone in meditation as well as talking to Samara and listening to her advice. On that remote planet I watched Asari Ardat-Yakshi struggling to control their own inner power and learning to live in a world that feared them. I used these strangers as avatars for you, mom and dad and slowly I began to understand and see things from a new perspective. I felt like shit. I realized what I had done to you, my sister. I hated myself for it and when I left to return to school, I understood more but, I felt worse.

I tried to talk to Hanna about what I had learned, to try to convince her to stop vilifying you and the power. I admit, even up to today I have had little luck with her on that topic. I will keep trying though. I still do not fully trust the power and I am far from willing to embrace it, even if it is a part of me. I have however, accepted it as part of who we are, especially you and I know that you are not evil. I know that you are not to be feared, at least by me and those you love. I would hate to be your enemy if the reports of your missions are true, but I am proud to be your brother. I know I do not deserve an easy forgiveness though I hope you can one day."

Vala was in tears listening to the words Krios spoke to her. They had angered her, frustrated her and saddened her. She knew it would take more than a few minutes to fully come to terms with what was said but, to hear that finally, her brother understood and accepted her, loved her and wanted her around was more than she had expected. Through a ragged breath, Vala responded, "Thank you. I can't right now Krios. It's too much but, I will. Give me some time to sort through this. Knowing that you are with me is enough for now. I love you little brother, always have, always will."

"I love you too sis." The two siblings embraced, and both felt a rush of relief run through their bodies. Krios for the first time since he was a child lowered his defenses against the power and let his connection to Vala flow freely. Both gasped at the sensation and smiled as an empty pit within them felt like it was at last filling. Krios let the power flow for a minute longer before slamming his defenses back in place. "I guess there are somethings I still need some more time to adjust to as well." He said slightly embarrassed.

Pulling apart Vala smiled at her brother. "We both do Krios. I have my own issues I need to work through, you are not alone in that. You will stay in contact with me while I'm away?"

"Of course. I will be sure to send those pictures also. Maybe I will even convince Hanna to write." Vala's smile faltered for a minute at the mention of her twin sister but, it returned in full a second later. They talked for a while longer as they finished their drinks and it was a far later hour than Vala had planned that she walked into her room at the academy where her team was staying the night before the launch. Setting her parents gift down in front of her bed, she kicked off her shoes and walked out on the small balcony overlooking the airfield. In the distance, illuminated by floodlights, rested the _New Horizons_, her home for the next couple of years and the start of an adventure filled with unknowns. She wondered if this is how her parents had felt at the start of their missions. She sighed at the unanswered question, turned around and went to bed.

Miranda Hannigan nee' Lawson stood on the ceremonial platform in front of a sea of cadets. To her left, the fully assembled crew of the New Horizons waited to be officially ordered to go aboard and start their mission. To her right were the council members, Shepard Academy senior staff and visiting dignitaries that had come to Rannoch to witness the start of this historic mission. She was already done with the typical introduction formalities, the history and purpose of the mission and now it was time to give the orders to the commanding officers and send them on their way.

Miranda's anxiety was high for this mission. She was about to order fifty people into the unknown. That part she was fine with. What caused her stress were six specific people in that group. They were her friends, family. People she loved and cared for. Some she had known since the Reaper War, others she had held as babies, watched grow up to become excellent young adults, far better than she had been at that age. She had told her wife Felicia that she was selfishly happy that their own kids were too young to have enlisted much less been assigned to this task. Their oldest child Michael was seventeen and still in high school. The daughter Kelley, named for her mother before she changed it to Felicia to hide from Cerberus, was thirteen and both were safely back on the Citadel with Felicia. Miranda couldn't wait to be back home and in Felicia's arms. She may have a reputation for being a tough bitch, but in private or at least among family and friends, Miranda loved nothing more than to simply be held by her wife.

"Admiral Samantha Thibodaux, Captain Lin Verel, approach." Miranda's command brought all eyes back to her and the two individuals named marched forward and stood at attention. "I Admiral Miranda Lawson, on behalf of the Galactic Council and the Shepard Academy charge you both with the following orders.

You will assume command of the newest ship of the Shepard Experimental Division, _New Horizons_ and with it, lead your crew into the unknown, passing beyond the borders of our galaxy into dark space where you will trace the path of the Andromeda Initiative to locate the alien ship that has attempted to contact us. Upon finding said ship, you will attempt to communicate with them and determine if they are friend or foe. You have been given all diplomatic rights and Ambassador Neela Voln speaks for the council.

If these new aliens prove to be friendly, we encourage you to establish a diplomatic relationship and invite them to the Citadel. If foe, then you are to use what judgement you feel is necessary with focus on removing yourself and crew from harm and returning to us with as much information as possible. We do not wish a war with these beings, but if that is their desire, we need all the information we can to defend ourselves.

Along the way, we have tasked you with modifying the relay beacons the Andromeda Initiative placed. These upgrades will enable us to collect better data of dark space as well as increase our communications capabilities with the long-term goal of hopefully one day being able to reconnect with the Initiative and learn what their new lives are like in the Andromeda Galaxy.

Above all, serve and protect your crew. That is a commanding officer's number one goal. Do you accept this command as given?"

"I do." Came the simultaneous reply from both Thibodaux and Verel.

"Very Well. Complete your mission and return to us. We will be here awaiting your arrival in anticipation of your success. Good luck to you all. Dismissed." Miranda fell silent and returned the salutes by the two figures in front of her. She took a step back as Admiral Thibodaux turned to face her crew.

"Crew of the _New Horizons_ Attention!" Her voice carried loud and clear above the gathered audience. Pride and confidence shone in her eyes, body rigid straight in military bearing, the gold of her admiral's rank on her shoulders gleaming in the sunlight while the left side of her chest jingled faintly as breeze rattle the dozens of medals showing both achievements earned and sacrifices given in service to the Alliance. "We have our orders and the mission is clear. Report to your assigned stations. Captain Moreau prepare the ship for departure. Captain Verel the crew is yours. We leave in fifteen minutes."

"Yes ma'am!" Captain Verel replied firing off a salute to the Admiral before turning to lead the crew towards the waiting ship. Admiral Thibodaux was the last to leave the stage following her small command. She stopped at the top of the ship's cargo ramp, turned and gave one final salute to the council. As the doors slowly closed, Sam's eyes contacted Kris' across the tarmac. She gave a small smile in acknowledgement and saw a tear drop from her wife's eye though the smile below those eyes mirrored Sam's own.

Sam made her way through the ship to the bridge. She watched as the crew made ready for take-off, securing loose items, starting systems, and strapping into their seats at various controls. She passed engineering where the engines were coming online with a soft hum of power, while the control boards lit up with a myriad of indicator lights showing systems online and ready. Reaching the crew deck, she found it mostly deserted as all personnel were on duty. Only the hospitality crew were present, securing the lounge, mess hall and galley. Just past them was the crew berth and medical bay. Inside she saw Vala and her two assistants finalizing their preparations, jump seats already out and ready to secure their persons for take-off.

"Attention ship. Departure in five minutes. All personnel secure themselves in preparation. Admiral Thibodaux please report to the C.i.C." The disembodied voice of Captain Verel came over the ship's comm system. Sam finished her journey one level above the crew deck in a room that was very familiar to her, not just because her department had designed it, but because it closely resembled the C.i.C. of the Normandy SR2. A large oval shaped space, the center of which was taken up with an interactive galaxy map with stations surrounding it for ship functions. Communications, engineering, weapons and combat, navigation and at the head, command at which Captain Verel stood confirming ship's readiness with his officers. Where on the old Normandy the stations faced the outer walls, on _New Horizon's_, the stations all faced the center so that the map, or any other projection that needed to be displayed was easily visible for all officers.

Samantha walked past the Captain and entered the bridge where Jeff and EDI were waiting on the command to lift off. Approaching the pilot's chair, she placed her hand on Jeff's shoulder while looking out the cockpit window. The way the ship was placed, her view showed only the vast ocean waters stretching out to the horizon. Jeff looked up from his console, bringing his gaze to the Admiral's face. He could read her body language well after over two decades of serving with her. He knew she was anxious, sad and excited but above all, he saw her confidence and determination. "All systems are ready Admiral. Waiting your command."

Samantha broke her gaze away from the waters of her home and looked down at the pilot. "We never get those fabled "routine" missions do we Joker?"

"Ah, well, if we were given those missions, we wouldn't get to have all these cool new toys, now would we? Besides, the last time I was assigned to a "routine" mission, it ended up being the beginning of the Reaper War. If I never get one of those again, it will be too soon."

"So once more into the unknown my friend?"

"Aye, Aye, ma'am."

"EDI, are you ready?" Sam turned to the synthetic woman sitting in the co-pilot chair. If one was not familiar with EDI, they would likely not recognize her as a synthetic being. Over the decades since EDI inhabited her artificial body, she had grown and evolved in ways no synth had before. Developing complex organic traits such as wants and desires beyond basic hardware and software upgrades and most importantly, and still bewildering, emotional states. Even her body itself had been upgraded with a synthetic polymer wrap simulating skin, along with new sensory devices woven throughout her body that gave her the true ability to feel things. Throughout the organic galaxy, EDI was considered the perfect organic infiltrator. In the synthetic community, she the apex of their being, practically a god to them. To Sam, she was simply a very good friend.

"All ship systems are online and ready Admiral. Captain Verel has confirmed status with all department heads and signified they stand ready for your command. On a quick personal note, thank you Sam."

"For what EDI?"

"For including us on this mission and for relaxing Jeff just now. He was becoming tense and punchy with the controls which can cause malfunctions and missteps. I still remember how his rough handling of a ships systems can feel."

"Hey, I thought you appreciated my rough hands" Jeff spoke up trying to defend himself.

"At home Jeff, or in the shuttle, and maybe later in our quarters but not while on duty. Maybe you should take a lesson from Sam, I remember quite well that her hands know how to treat a hardware system." Sam blushed fiercely at the reference. When she had first met EDI, back when EDI was a disembodied voice and the Normandy's A.I., she had developed a crush on her. It was a secret fantasy she carried that Kris and EDI still gave her shit over. She glared at EDI who smiled and laughed in turn. That laughter spread quickly to both Jeff and Sam and the tension drained from the Admiral's shoulders.

"_New Horizons_ prepare for lift-off. Take us out of here Captain Moreau." With those words, Jeff's fingers flew across the controls and with a slight vibration, the ship lifted off the tarmac and rapidly rose into Rannoch's Sky.

On the ground below, a small group of people stood clustered together, many holding hands, some with tears in their eyes and all of them with thoughts and prayers for their friends and family aboard the ship. Tali stood side-by-side with John while he held one arm around her waist and another around the shoulders of Kris who was openly crying. Miranda next to them with Liara beside her. James and Kasumi, Garrus and Ashley just behind. Silently they gave each other strength as they watched their loved ones disappear.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3. **

Steam filled the small room reducing visibility down to barely an arm length and covering every surface with condensation. The deck shuddered with another vibration and sounds of pipes groaning under strain echoed throughout the ship. Main lighting was out on this deck and the flickering of the emergency lights caused shadows to leap out at the two figures slowly making their way through the cramped access area.

Fendala's fur was plastered to her body from the damp air and her clothing, a set of utilitarian coveralls, were covered in grease and dirt with rips on the arms and legs from heavy use. A set of well used tools hung from a belt around her waist, their metal components clanking against each other as she walked. Another strap slung over her shoulder carried a bag containing the parts needed to repair the busted pipe. Beside her, Lieutenant Thera, the ships Chief Engineer, was dressed in a similar fashion and carried her own supplies to supplement Fendala's. They were making their way deep into a service tunnel to repair piping that had ruptured. This was not the first time the two LiThar women had made this journey.

Five years had passed since the small group of LiThar resistance fighters had escaped from Akzunatai's fortress. Five long years of space travel through unknown systems across their galaxy before entering dark space on their mission to reach the Milky Way and those beings living in it to warn them of Akzunatai's impending invasion. They needed to find the one called Shepard and quickly.

Their journey had gone relatively smooth for the first couple of years. However, a surprise encounter with a vessel from the target area had led to a brief battle which left them severely crippled. It had been pure chance that had led them to that mysterious vessel. Long distance scans had detected a large, artificial object on an intercept trajectory. It did not register as any known ship from either Akzunatai's forces or those of the Milky Way. It also did not appear to be hostile nor targeting them, just happenstance placing it in their path. They decided to investigate and took their ship in closer. A massive ship greeted them as they moved into visual range. Larger than anything they had seen in Akzunatai's fleet, the vessel one and half kilometers in length, dwarfed their tiny ship and made them feel insignificant.

They tried various hails but the responses they received they could not understand. Scans of the ship did not reveal any life forms abord, but they knew that did not mean it was unmanned. Their scanning technology may be blocked, or the life signs disguised. After several attempts, they identified a docking port and attempted to dock with the massive vessel. That was when things became aggressive. As they drew near, the vessel suddenly came to life, locking its weapons on to them while firing engines to pull away from the smaller craft.

The vessel, the _Keelah Si'yah_, the Quarian Ark of the Andromeda Missions, was on full auto pilot at this stage in its journey. Captain Qetsi'Olam, the Quarian Captain had ordered the Ark's automated systems to take evasive maneuvers and defensive actions to avoid any hostiles encountered. Unscheduled waking of the Sleepwalker teams was to be avoided so as not to affect resource allotments. The Ark's V.I. engaged the defenses and took evasive measures to move the ship away from the potential threat yet the aliens were persistent. Still sending hails and staying close to the Ark, albeit more cautiously, the threat remained. After several attempts to escape, the V.I. resorted to attacking. The weapons had been locked on to the much smaller vessel since the start and with a command, _Keelah Si'yah_ opened fire.

Aboard the Verna-Litha, the bridge lit up with the flashing glow of the shields igniting as the first shots from the alien vessel impacted their own. The ship vibrated and alarms sounded loud and shrill. All six LiThar were tossed about as the ship was rocked with impact. "Get us away from that ship now!" Commander Mavish screamed over the din of alarms. Tevis, who was piloting the ship, scrambled quickly back into his chair and began to navigate their ship to safety.

A thunderous roar, an explosion of sparks from several consoles and the ship took a sickening roll, the artificial gravity failed and all but Tevis who had strapped himself into his seat, found themselves violently thrown from their feet before slamming into the bulkheads. With the gravity offline, the impacts were not life threatening, but due to the initial inertia, they were still painful. The lights flickered one final time and the ship was plunged into darkness. Smoke filled the room and smell of burned wires reached their sensitive noses.

Fendala looked around as best she could. Fortunately, years in Akzunatai's employ where only torchlight was allowed had sharpened her eyesight in low light environments. Now with only a few emergency lights and the dim glow from Tevis' control panel illuminating the space, she could see clearly the damage where the others still could not. At first glance, aside from the debris floating around them, the bridge appeared to be in fair shape. It was only when she realized what the debris was that fear set in. The broken pieces of materials were formerly the engineering control station. The ship had been designed with all the primary controls on the bridge instead of at individual stations throughout the ship. Where the station used to reside now was a blackened hole in a console with tendrils of wire poking out from the edges of shattered metal and plastics.

"Anyone hurt? Serious or otherwise?" Came the voice of their medical officer Shethra followed by a chorus of noes by the crew except one. Fendala quickly looked around in the dim light till she found the unconscious body of Lieutenant Thera. As the Chief Engineer, she had been at the engineering console when it exploded.

"Thera's hurt!" Fendala called as she pushed off the bulkhead propelling herself towards the unconscious woman. As she wrapped her arms around the injured officer, securing her against the gravity less drift, she began to register the burns to Thera's upper chest and arm. The officer had saved her face at the cost of that arm. Her clothing was shredded with the impacts of hundreds of pieces of shrapnel, but fortunately none of the punctures appeared deep or fatal. Shethra floated up to the two women and began examining, confirming most of what Fendala had suspected. Together they managed to maneuver the engineer to the medical bay and strap her to a bed.

Fendala stayed with Shethra to aid in cleaning up and bandaging Thera and missed much of what followed. Commander Mavish later filled in the details after Thera was awake though still under orders to remain in bed. With the Verna-Litha adrift and disabled, the alien ship had continued to pull away and offered no further hostility. Mavish and their last member, Seflo, had gone below to engineering proper and with Tevis working from the bridge managed to get the artificial gravity reengaged as well as the engines, navigation and various other systems that had been knocked offline.

They had been lucky in that after disabling the smaller vessel the Ark had deemed itself safe and departed. Had the V.I. still felt threatened, it could have easily destroyed them. Of course this was unknown to the six LiThar, as was the fact that the Ark's weapons and aggressive nature were part special design and programming specific to the mission and part a larger problem with a planted virus that would go on to reap greater problems for the multi-race ark. At this time, what the small group of LiThar knew for certain was that they had nearly been destroyed by the first aliens they had encountered. While it went unsaid, they all feared if this was how they would be received at their intended destination.

Over the coming weeks, they came to a decision that their best hope still lay in reaching the Milky Way and the Shepards. They conceded that they may need a better method of communicating. In reviewing the data collected from the encounter with the Ark, they realized that they had been given an answer to their hails, they were simply unable to understand it. Fendala realized that she may be able to solve that problem. She had stolen copies of thousands of Akzunatai's reports, plans and records for what he knew and planned about the Milky Way. Many of those were written in the Alien's languages as he had been attempting to learn them himself. Fendala had seen them often enough but had had no time to teach herself the language. She set herself to task as they realized that communications should have been given higher priority.

Another major change in plans was that they decided to trace back the larger vessels path. Their thinking was that if this was a major travel route, they may encounter another, less hostile ship. It was risky, but they decided it was no riskier than what they had been previously doing, traveling blind in hopes that they find what they are looking for. This may be a bad plan but at least it was a plan in the right direction.

As more time passed, another not unforeseen, but unresolved issue presented itself; how to repair the ship. The damage done to the small vessel was not immediately fatal but could prove so in the long term. Repairs would have to be prioritized due to their limited supplies and lack of available ports. The ship being small and the crew minimal was both a blessing and a curse. A small ship meant that the repairs were easier to manage and took fewer resources. A small crew also meant that fewer consumable resources were needed and being able to easily condense needed space helped in isolating sections of the ship for repairs when needed. On the other side though was a smaller ship meant that they could carry far fewer resources be it spare materials or food and the small crew meant that everyone on board was a critical member. This tight balancing act would define the next two years of their journey, placing strain not only on the ship and its systems but on the physical and mental states of the small team.

The crew would have one stroke of good fortune on their journey. A couple of months after the encounter with the _Keelah Si'yah, _Tevis announced that he had detected some sort of communications device that appeared to be the same technological specs that had come from the alien vessel. They cautiously approached, continuing to scan both for hostilities and information. Discovering that the object was indeed a communication device of some sort, and that it appeared to be connected to a larger network, they decided to take the risk and sent a message through it. Fendala had not been very successful yet in learning the language, but she did manage to send a couple of words correctly that Captain Verel would eventually receive and would start his future mission; help and talk.

After sending the message, they had no way of knowing if it would be picked up or when a response would come. Deciding the best course of action would be to continue their way, the Verna-Litha departed the comm buoy following the estimated return path of the _Keelah Si'yah. _The next two years were a rough time for the escaping LiThar. The damage from their brief battle continued to cause ever increasing problems in both the ship and the crew. As material resources began to run low, repairs had to be prioritized with importance on life support, engines and navigation. Comforts were soon suspended and as the journey wore on, even systems such as their artificial gravity were shut down to conserve energy. With the ship moving slower than anticipated, they began to ration food and medicines to conserve what they had. The backup plan in an emergency event had been to place all but two people into cryo-stasis on a rotating basis. With the damage to the power generators, the cryo-chambers were no longer an option as they would be just as apt to kill them as save them. Rationing also meant that they were malnourished, and medicinal restrictions meant slow recoveries. On the day Fendala and Thera were making their way to repair the steam line, Seflo had been severely ill for weeks, and Mavish, who had suffered a broken leg nearly six months earlier, would never have it heal correctly. They all suffered from a lack of proper diet, exhaustion, loss of muscle in zero gravity and mental fatigue.

Another shudder of the catwalk beneath Fendala's feet brought her thoughts back to the present. The utility tunnels were becoming a familiar site, with increasingly frequent trips to the ship's underbelly for repairs. Fendala was no engineer, though over the course of the trip and under the expert teaching of Thera, she was becoming a competent mechanic. Just ahead was the ruptured line, the steam cloud hot and moist filled the space completely. Thera pointed to a valve a few paces further and Fendala immediately began to turn it to close off the system.

"Commander, we found the break." Thera spoke into her comm to the waiting crew on the bridge. "Looks like the forward port thruster exhaust tube ruptured. That would explain why you were losing control in that quarter Tevis."

"Can you fix it Lieutenant?" Came the tired reply of Commander Mavish.

"We can, but it means scrapping more of the hot water lines. I have to have the heavier gauge, insulated piping or we will be in this mess again before long."

"None of us have had a hot shower in months as it is. Do what you have to Chief. We need the engines, or this is all for nothing." Mavish closed his comm and dropped heavily into a chair. The veteran commander was no stranger to the dangerous and difficult, and a mountain of stress and worry on his shoulders was par for the course, but this mission was different. This was likely his people's best chance of ever regaining their freedom from Akzunatai. He and these five people with him had to succeed. To do that, they needed their ship.

Some days he had felt lost. There was little planning of the journey itself beyond set a course and go till they found something. Escaping Akzunatai had been the immediate challenge. This portion had always been acknowledged and set aside. It was the unknown. They had done all they could to investigate traversing dark space from the pilots who had gone before, but they learned very little. None of the spies Akzunatai had sent out had been LiThar. He preferred to keep them within his home galaxy, where he could watch and control them. Unlike the majority of Akzunatai's enslaved races, the LiThar could resist his influences. They were not loyal because of mind control or biological programming as most now were. They served him out of fear and because the LiThar leaders knew that gaining Akzunatai's trust while maintaining their freewill was the only way to one day escape.

Mavish had known there would be problems on the mission. Those were inevitable as any soldier could testify to, it was always just a matter of what form they would take and how severe they would be. So far, they have had a mixed bag on both accounts. His one hope rested in that they had been travelling for five years now and even with the delays due to engine failures, and a host of other issues that caused them to slow, they should be nearing their destination. Encountering that comm buoy had been a boost to the crew's low morale, but that had been two years and many life-threatening repairs ago. They were all tired, hurt and exhausted. They would of course continue, but Mavish was no longer certain if simply continuing would be enough.

Back in the tunnels, Fendala dropped an arm load of pipe fittings on the deck and leaned a section of pipe, longer than her body and nearly as wide in diameter against the bulkhead. Just ahead at the rupture, sparks were flying as Thera used a plasma torch to cut away the damaged exhaust tube. With a loud clang, the mangled chunk of pipe hit the deck, its edges glowing red hot from the cutter. "Were you able to salvage enough material?" Thera asked as she dropped to the deck and pulled the goggles protecting her eyes away to look at Fendala.

"I did. There is not much left to that line though. If we must do this again, we may need to decide which system can go next."

"Damn. I was worried about that. Those repairs to the fuel lines a few days back took more materials than I had originally planned. I meant to run an inventory to confirm what was left, but honestly, I was too tired and afterwards I must have forgot." Thera sighed and lowered her head. "Fendala, after we get this repair made, I want you to go with me and let us make an accounting of what we have onboard that can be salvaged. I don't want us to have a surprise in an emergency."

Fendala agreed and the two women went to work. Several hours later two exhausted LiThar slowly made their way on shuffling feet, too tired to take proper steps, into the crew lounge and collapsed on the couches that lined the sides. Commander Mavish found them both asleep in nearly the same position they had fallen when he came in for his evening rations. A sad smile crossed his face. Reaching into the overhead lockers, he pulled a couple of blankets out and covered the two figures. They were going to report their findings to him with dinner. He saw no reason to wake them for something he could read himself. Picking up a dropped tablet, he dimmed the lights and retreated to his bunk where he mechanically chewed through the ration bar while reading what resources were left on his damaged ship.

Tevis finished entering their coordinates and ship status into his log, a depressing duty to be sure as entry after entry showed deteriorating conditions and slow forward motion. Closing the log, he relaxed into the pilot's chair, the cockpit lights blurring as his eyes closed for a moment. Another day of potential catastrophic failure adverted by cannibalizing parts of the ship. Thirty years he had been flying spaceships, and twenty of those as a test pilot. Life or death was a daily occurrence to someone in his career, but it was normally only his own life on the line. Now he had five others on his ship he was responsible for keeping alive, not to mention the millions of others whose freedom relied on them succeeding. Sure, the Commander may be the figurehead upon who all the praise or blame would fall, but every pilot knew that it was not the commanding officer who was responsible for a ship docking properly or crashing tragically. That rested on the pilots.

This mission was putting all his considerable knowledge to the test. Improvising had become the standards on which they operated as systems failed and resources for proper repairs ran low. Today's emergency barely registered in his mind as a problem as repairs such as those had become all too common, as were the piloting adjustments he had to make to keep them on course and moving forward. Piloting this ship on fewer than optimal number of engines had become second nature.

Tevis felt sleep beginning to nudge at him. Letting out a soft groan, he leaned forward to ensure the auto pilot was functioning as it should so he could walk about and get a drink to ward off exhaustion. As he rose, the long-range scanner let out a beep and lights began to flicker on alerting him that something had been detected. Tevis stared at the normally blank and silent screen above his head. The last time the sensors had detected anything was that comm buoy years ago.

Tevis shook his head, fully awake now and dropped back into his chair. Bringing the computers to full life he began to scroll through the data the sensors were recording. An object with an energy signature had been detected at the outermost limits of their scanning range. With their power levels as low as they were, that distance was not great. The object, ship most likely, was larger than their own vessel though not the overwhelming size of the last. He could not tell much from this distance without more power to the scanners, but he could tell that they had detected them and had altered course to intercept. "Commander Mavish." Tevis spoke after activating the direct comm to the Commander and waiting for acknowledgement. "You need to report to the bridge. We have picked up what appears to be a vessel on long range scanners, and it is on a course to intercept."

Mavish had wasted no time in springing from his bunk after hearing his pilot's words. Slamming his feet back into his boots and grabbing his uniform jacket, he raced through the ship and within minutes was standing behind Tevis reading over the data continuing to come in. Tevis suggested that they could afford to cut power from the engines temporarily to boost the scanners and communications to try to learn more. It was a simple enough procedure that could be revered in seconds if they needed to escape in a hurry. Mavish agreed and soon the screen on which the limited data was scrolling nearly tripled in output. A few minutes more and the screen split to share the space with an image of the approaching vessel.

It was indeed a ship, one in which their own vessel could probably fit if the cargo areas were large enough. There would be no successful escape if they were forced to run. From the size of the engines they could see and the power output they were reading, it was safe to assume that the approaching ship was capable of far more propulsion power than they were in their current state. They had no options but to stand and face what comes.

"Wake the crew Tevis. Battle stations. Have Fendala report to the bridge, we may need her ambassador services at long last." Mavish fell silent and Tevis relayed the orders over the ship's comms. In the crew quarters, Fendala and Thera leapt from the chairs they had fallen asleep in, disoriented and half asleep the women quickly recovered their bearings and upon registering what the pilot was now repeating, they made their way to their stations, Thera to engineering and Fendala to the bridge. Meanwhile in the medical bay, Shethra woke up from his own nap and quickly began to secure his patient, Seflo before prepping the medical equipment for an emergency. His supplies were low, but he would be damned if he lost anyone.

Fendala's feet were heavy as she made her way to the bridge, her sore legs making each step a conscious effort of will. Grabbing a bottle of water from the galley along her way, she took a few deep drinks to help clear the fog from her head. That entire bottle was her ration supply for the day, but if this proved to be the moment they had been waiting for, that that ship headed towards them contained the people they sought, then she would need to be as clear headed as possible to attempt communications. They could not afford another fight. This had to be a peaceful encounter, or they would likely be dead soon and her drinking extra water would not make any difference.

She reached the bridge and came to a halt next to Commander Mavish. He asked if she was alright and ready and she nodded in silent confirmation. She knew that Mavish was aware of how wore out they all were. He was not in any better condition. She quickly reviewed the information scrolling on the screens about the approaching ship, looking for anything she recognized that could indicate who they were about to communicate with. The files they had managed to steal contained a massive amount of information that she and Mavish had combed through over the past few years trying to learn not only the language, but anything that could help them. From what she knew of the vessels they could encounter, this one did not match any in appearance, though energy signatures indicated similarities to the one they had already encountered.

"They are within our comm range Commander." Tevis reported. Mavish nodded and glanced at Fendala who swallowed nervously. Taking another drink of the refreshing water, she nodded her readiness and set the bottle on a nearby console. "Open a channel Tevis." Commander Mavish ordered and the pilot entered a code. A monitor to the right side of Fendala came to life and she was staring at the image of the approaching ship. A tiny inset screen in the upper corner showed her own image back. She gasped at the image. Her fur was dirty and disheveled and the long red mane that ran the length of her body had grown long and was a straggly, frizzed mess of fur sticking out at odd angles and in the glowing light of the monitors, caused her to appear as though in a halo as the light was fractured around the fur. Her clothing was worse, the mechanic jumpsuit was torn and frayed, stained with sweat, grease, blood and other stains that she could only guess at, she made for a horrible ambassador, but a picture-perfect refugee. She supposed that was more accurate to the situation anyway.

Fendala took a steadying breath to help calm her nerves then began to speak in her best attempt at the alien language. "Attention approaching vessel. My name is Fendala of the LiThar aboard the ship Verna-litha. My crew and I need aid. We also carry a message for one called Shepard. We mean you no harm. Please, help us." Fendala fell silent. The monitor indicated the message had been sent. She looked at Mavish who smiled and placed his hand on her shoulder to offer comfort. She had done it. She had made contact and hopefully in a way they could understand. Now all they could do is wait.

Minutes passed, silence filled the room with only the humming of the ship's systems to be heard, the vibrations of the engines transmitted through the decks registered through nerves in her feet and the now familiar scents of unwashed fur mixed with sweat and grime flooded her senses and reassured her that all was well for the moment. Lifting the water bottle for another drink, she realized it was empty. Mavish handed her his own which she tried to refuse, but the Commander gave her a direct stare and her resolve wilted under that gaze. Taking the bottle, she took a small sip and passed it back with her thanks.

They waited. More minutes passed with the only changes being that the two ships continued to get closer together. Fendala's stomach rolled with nervousness. She could see the tension building in Mavish's body as well as Tevis' which did little to calm her own fears. "Commander! Off the port bow. They are here." Both Mavish and Fendala followed the excited pilot's arm to see the rapidly approaching lights of the incoming ship. Standing in a combination of fear and awe, Fendala watched the alien vessel slow, the glow of the engines fading, and come to a stop a few hundred meters away. Lights illuminated words printed across the side of the hull, "New Horizons" she managed to translate to her fellow crew members. Just as Mavish was about to ask what that meant, the comm system began flashing and a beep indicated they had an incoming message.

Mavish looked to Fendala who was already preparing herself and told Tevis to allow the message through. The monitor in front of Fendala again blinked to life though this time she was faced, not with the image of the alien ship but that of an alien species. A blue skinned woman stood opposite Fendala on the screen, a warm, smile on her beautiful face as she gazed back through her own monitor at the LiThar woman. Fendala's heart felt as though it would break at the site of the woman. The light blue pigment of her skin reminded the LiThar of the skies over OniThar, and seeing that color, one that had been longingly absent for five years was an emotional blow Fendala was not ready for. Another shock soon followed as the alien woman began to speak in a clumsy yet understood version of the LiThar language.

"Greetings. My name is Neela Voln. I represent the people of the Milky Way galaxy. We received your message two years ago and have come to greet you. I have someone with me who I think you will want to meet." The blue skin woman stepped aside, and another entered the scene. Far younger than her predecessor, and obviously not of the same species, with light purple tinted skin and dark, virtually black hair framing her face this woman was just as beautiful as the first, but that beauty was not what made Fendala gasp. It was her eyes. Solid white and glowing bright, those eyes captured her attention, but the blue specs that swirled within them was what held her gaze. Dizzying and beautiful at once, Fendala felt as though they could pierce straight through her and see what was in her mind and soul. The locked gaze held till the young alien began to speak. "Greetings. I am Vala Shepard. I believe you have a message for my father."

Fendala's leg began to shake, her vision blurred then turned to black and she collapsed to the deck.

Vala gasped and took an instinctive step towards the monitor, her medical training already in full swing as she watched the alien woman collapse. From the moment they had opened the communications and she saw the woman's face, Vala knew that this person was in pain. She had that same beat down, injured and desperate look that Vala had seen on captives and refugees that she had helped to rescue. This was a person who had been through an endless nightmare and was at last being rescued from it. Shock and stresses were battling within the woman with hope and relief. She had become overwhelmed and passed out. They had to help them. They had to do so fast. If this was the state of the person that ship deemed most fit to communicate, then she feared for the other members.

EDI had informed them that initial scans showed the vessel to be heavily damaged and repairs were rudimentary at best. She could see massive power fluctuations creating dips and spikes across the energy spectrums far outside of normal ranges. Images of the outer hull showed many patches where breaches had been sealed, and they could easily see that less than half of the engines were in use, whether because the rest were offline or being conserved, she did not know, but guessed that even if those engines could be brought online, their power levels were far from sufficient to run them for long. EDI admitted this could all be a ruse, but the patches were real and after seeing the woman on the comm screen, Vala did not believe them to be bluffing.

Vala thought back over their own year on this mission. It had certainly had some challenges, but nothing life threatening or unexpected. Their departure from Rannoch had been tough emotionally for them all, but the journey to the edge of dark space had gone smooth. They had made a quick stop at the array to retrieve the latest in data from the beacons and the stations own scanners, picked up some last-minute equipment and set out for the unknown. It had taken them a few months to reach to the first beacon and routine had become the normal. Wake, exercise, shower, eat, tend to any patients, file medical logs, and then depending on when she wrapped up that work, Vala typically found herself seeking out Angela, Diana, Sam and Neela who were working on understanding and learning the alien language and creating the program for new translator chips. While Vala was not a linguist like Neela and Diana, nor a programmer like Sam and Angela, they had thought it best that Vala was one of the primaries to learn the language. She was the Chief medical officer and if her services got called upon to help these new people, then it would be best if she could communicate with them. Vala had agreed as it did make sense, but she did have her own personal reasons as well.

Angela Thibodaux joined her childhood friend every morning for exercise and breakfast and unless they had watch duty, which usually was scheduled at the same time, they would most likely be found together in the lounge or in Vala's personal quarters watching a vid, playing a game or simply chatting. To Sam, it reminded her of when the girls were little. This is how she and Kris always found them and Tali had always said the same thing. To Vala, she was in paradise.

Vala knew that she had friends and was accepted among her peers and in society in general. It had taken time, years in fact, but her work with the Retrievers had given her confidence and being chosen for her position on this mission had strengthened her and eroded large chunks of lingering doubts about herself. She had turned twenty-seven on their journey and she finally felt like she belonged. Her last remaining major insecurity came in the form of the human woman who was found every morning at breakfast braiding Vala's hair into intricate patterns that framed the Quarian Officer's face while keeping out of the way for her to see and work. Those fifteen minutes Vala sat in the morning, feeling Angela's fingers work their way through her long midnight blue hair were the best times of Vala's life. She would have butterflies in her stomach every day in anticipation. The only thing that brought her more peace were those nights they stayed up late watching a vid and Angela would fall asleep in Vala's bed. Those nights, Vala would turn of the vid and raise the blankets to cover both women, then she would wrap her arms around her friend, hugging her tight, Angela's own arms subconsciously locking around Vala's to hold them in place, before falling asleep. This was Vala's idea of heaven.

To state it simply, Vala loved Angela. She always had and always would. It had taken Vala some time to come to terms with her feelings for her friend as she had, and she had to admit still, worried about losing her if Angela didn't feel the same. Through their teen years and early adulthood, they had dated other people and Vala's heart had always felt torn as she watched Angela with someone else. The first time she saw her kiss another person had felt as though she had been stabbed in the stomach. It made her sick and she had locked herself in her room for a week. Her parents had tried to find out what was wrong, and Angela had come over repeatedly trying to get Vala to talk, not understanding why her friend had gone silent, but Vala remained closeted. Her dad finally got her to come out by teasing her with the smell of her favorite foods. He had cooked for two days straight, filling the house with mouthwatering scents until it became too much for the then fifteen-year-old girl to take. Meekly she opened her door to find her mother sitting on the floor eating a skewer of bacon wrapped shrimp her dad had imported from Earth. Vala sat by her mother and picked up a skewer from the plate in Tali's lap and ate ravenously. Tali never spoke a word to her daughter, not asking questions, no judgements or accusations, just silent support. Vala in turn never told her mother what had upset her so that week, but there was an understanding between them that went beyond words. Vala knew that somehow her mom understood what had happened. Perhaps not all the details, but she knew enough and perhaps understood better than Vala herself.

While not actually satisfied with where things stood, Vala was content at least to not risk jeopardizing what she had and so, the year had gone by in relative happiness. Her study of the alien language continuously improved as did Neela's and Diana's to the point where they felt confident that they could at least communicate with the new people. Sam and Angela had managed to create a new translator microbe that could learn and grow as better understanding of the language was obtained. The entire crew had been implanted with it where it waited dormant until the aliens arrived.

Other aspects of their mission had also progressed well. They had located a dozen of the beacons left by the Ark _Keelah Si'yah _and had implemented the upgrades to them which only increased the communications systems in a small way but improved the scanning and data transmissions dramatically. Back on the array, the analysts would be able to get useful information in far quicker than previously which would give the council more time to plan and react. If they were about to get invaded, the galaxy now had a realistic chance for an advanced warning.

The ship too had outperformed their expectations. Joker and EDI had put the new ship through her paces every chance they had, running various simulations designed to challenge the engines, shields, stealth systems, scanners and communications. Joker had even begrudgingly admitted that she was better than his beloved Normandy SR3 back home.

There was not a lot to do beyond normal routine duty, but both Verel and Samantha refused to let the crew get too comfortable. Ship wide drills covering any scenario from simple fire to an unexpected attack, loss of power, oxygen and even a few evacuation drills were conducted randomly to keep everyone sharp. Of course, they both believed in keeping a happy crew and had planned for it well. After every successful drill, the crew was rewarded with a celebration during which special reserves of food and drink that both the Admiral and Captain had stocked would be brought out. The celebrations would typically last all night with those unfortunate enough to have duty in the morning suffering from hangovers or at the very least, lack of sleep through most of their watch.

Vala's med bay was relatively quiet and she used the opportunities to teach her assistants all she could. Both people under her direct command human, one male, one female, were younger than she, and on their first assignment. Graduating at the top of their class from the same school Vala herself had attended years earlier, they had been picked for this mission as blank slates. One of Captain Verel's worries had been if medical assistance were to be needed to treat the new aliens, would a traditionally trained medic be able to adapt fast enough to a new species. Of course, they would need the experience for their own people and for the Chief positions, but he had asked during their candidate search, would it perhaps not be best to select young, easily trainable people, ones that their Chief medical officer could train classically, but would offer a fresh new way of looking at a problem.

When Vala had met her assistants, she had at first thought there had been a mistake, but after talking to them as well as Samantha, she saw the wisdom in the idea even if it caused her great anxiety worrying if she were qualified enough, or capable enough, to properly teach them. Those early weeks she had been nervous but dove into teaching with a fierce determination to succeed. She found her students extremely intelligent and eager to learn what she had to teach. Before long, they had developed into colleagues more than teacher and students and Vala soon found herself constantly challenged by their intelligent questions and observations.

Others on the ship were experiencing similar situations. Nelis and Commander Lexandrius had molded together instantly, and their security team was constantly training and running drills in the cargo bay. They had created obstacle courses as well as simulated environments which challenged their soldiers as well as the other crew members who chose to join in. Most did and Angela made a fortune off a young soldier who didn't believe that her mother's arm was synthetic when he challenged someone to beat him at one arm pull-ups. The memory of that day always put a large smile on Angela's face.

Admiral Thibodaux had always been one to integrate with her crew. She had learned from Shepard that building those relationships with the people under your command cost little and gained you everything. She had been told about the small competition being conducted that day and so decided she would join in. No sooner had she entered the hold when this young, green soldier, packing far more muscle than brains stood and called for a challenge to one arm pull-ups. She looked around and saw plenty of smiles but no takers to the kid's challenge. So, she spoke up accepting. She figured he had to know about her arm and would declare that she had to use her real one, but he gladly accepted with no objections. She arched her eyebrow at her daughter who she saw trying not to laugh at what was about to happen, pulled off her uniform jacket and walked to the bars.

Sam had to admit that while the original grafting of the synthetic arm to her shoulder had not gone smoothly, time and medical science had advanced and now, while she was constantly aware of the artificial appendage, unless her shoulders were bare where the scars could still be seen, it was difficult to tell the organic from synthetic. Today, her undershirt completely covered those scars so when Lexandrius called for them to grab the bar, she leapt and latched on tight without anyone seeing her not so secrete secret. The Commander counted down and when he got to one, they both released one arm, hanging only by the other, a second later the contest started. Ten reps went by then twenty and the kid never slowed. Thirty he was wavering, forty desperately struggling and at forty-two, he dropped to the mat. Sam kept going as the kid lay below her staring wide-eyed at the much older woman still going strong as she cleared sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety and one hundred before dropping to stand over him. Mouth hanging open, shock spread across his face and Sam began to laugh. She reached under her shirt and released the arm from the socket, pulling it free from her shoulder to hold in the air. The soldier climbed to his feet and saluted the Admiral all the while his face had gone red with embarrassment.

"Never underestimate an opponent soldier." Samantha spoke. "And pay attention to your intelligence reports. If you had, you would have known about my history and resulting conditions and not allowed me to compete, or at least stipulated that I use my real arm. Above all, listen to your squad mates. Many of them tried to warn you, had you listened, you would not owe my daughter some money right now." Samantha smiled at the young man before adding. "Chin up soldier, you still did extremely well." She gave his shoulder an affectionate squeeze and let him rejoin his friends while she reattached her arm.

Angela was laughing at the entire spectacle and was filled with immense pride for her mother. She had seen her mom go through some dark times of depression over the years regarding that arm and the circumstances surrounding its loss. To see her today embracing it brought a joy to the young woman's heart. That energy carried over the day and a few hours later, another secret was revealed.

Angela, Sam and Vala sat watching the one on one combat matches that had been organized. Nelis had suggested the idea as a way of working off some stress while enjoying friendly competition. The Retrievers had organized these whenever they had time in between missions to great success. Lexandrius had approved as Turians also regularly set up similar matches. The match that day had been dominated by an Asari Commando, Meela Lind, young for her race at only eighty-seven, she had shown exceptional promise as a fighter, but was in desperate need of discipline and guidance.

Meela had lost her family to Sovereigns attack on the Citadel over thirty years previous when the Asari child was in school. She had found herself orphaned and forgotten by governments too busy trying to cover up what everyone knew instead of taking care of their people. Angry and lost, she had taken up with several street gangs on the Citadel before being recruited by the Eclipse Sisters. The Eclipse offer was tempting to the young girl, but before she could accept, Citadel Security executed a raid on the gang's hideout arresting all the Eclipse members and ending Meela's criminal career.

Unable to tie Meela to any of the crimes committed by the Eclipse and finding her listed in the gang's records only as a candidate, they released her back to the streets of the Citadel. A week later, Cerberus attacked the Citadel as part of Councilor Udina's coup attempt. She had been at a food kiosk on the presidium when a pair of Cerberus soldiers entered the plaza and began shooting, scaring the citizenry into hiding and securing the place for occupation. She had reacted on instinct, pulling a family behind the food counter and ushering them and the restaurant's staff into a small room in back away from danger. She then made her way carefully back to the store front and with fear racing throughout her body, hands shaking and sweat beading on her head, she spotted the approaching soldiers and found a dark corner to watch and wait.

The soldiers, going one store at a time to locate and secure the civilians as well as neutralize any C-Sec officers, entered the restaurant where Meela hid. Crouched in a tiny ball behind the last booth, she kept her head down, shoulders shaking with silent, fearful crying until the first stood over her. He spoke, commanding her to get up and come with them. She slowly lifted her head to stare at the armored man, then she sprang.

Knowing that her only chance to take these heavily armed men was to do it by surprise and quickly, she had crouched behind the booth, leg muscles tense and ready to launch her upward. Biotics charged, when the soldier bent to grab her arm, she exploded upward with all the force she could muster, catching the man in his upper chest and rocking him back and away from her. As she cleared the booth, she released her biotics at the other soldier, slamming him into the wall with a powerful force that the bulkhead deformed under the impact. Before the first soldier could recover, she grabbed his gun, wrestling it away to reverse the aim and with a well-placed shot, she dropped the first soldier, turned and fired again to ensure the second stayed down.

Moving quickly, Meela relieved both downed soldiers of their remaining weapons, giving the extras to the other adults in the store before taking up position behind the serving counter where she could keep an eye on the entrance. It was there an Asari C-Sec officer would find the young woman several hours later still protecting a terrified group of strangers in a presidium restaurant. That woman was Neela Voln who recognized the potential in the young woman and using her contacts with the Asari government, she sponsored Meela to go through Asari Commando training.

Meela would spend the next couple of decades pushing herself to be the best, never backing down from a challenge and when she found herself outmatched or defeated, she made sure to learn so she could beat it next time. Her self-imposed standards and drive often made her come across as arrogant, a perfectionist and she found herself shunned and faced with animosity as a result. As this was common among young Asari, her instructors and commanding officers didn't think much on it, but the crew on the _New Horizons_ felt different.

As the hours passed and the tournament began to reach its conclusion, Meela had distinguished herself, defeating all her fellow security squad mates as well as all other crew members who had decided to try. Lexandrius had been about to declare the gloating woman champion when Vala had decided she had seen enough. Rising to her feet she called out her challenge. The gathered crew fell silent and Meela's were wide in shock. Vala had not revealed her power to any of the crew that did not already know. Her reason had not been tied up so much in fear as it had been in the past, but simply she had not had the opportunity to. Now she did.

Pulling off her sweatshirt so that she was clothed only in a t-shirt and work-out pants, Vala rarely wore her uniform boots as she preferred to go barefoot as was natural for most Quarians now that they no longer needed environmental suits, she walked onto the mat and faced her opponent. Meela was rather shocked at what was happening. She had heard that Vala had worked with the retrievers and was a competent fighter, so she had assumed that that had meant she was rated above average, but still, how good was a medical officer at fighting? The retrievers mission reports were largely confidential and the only time they had been together in full dress uniform was at the launch. Meela's mind was racing through that day trying to remember what the medals she had seen decorating the Chief's chest were for.

Around the room, anticipation and disbelief were on most faces now focused solely upon the two women. Exceptions were limited to only a few, Lexandrius who had been made aware of Vala's abilities as had the other senior officers, Samantha was wide eyed with worry, though for Vala or Meela was debatable, Diana who was now filming the match did nothing to hide her excitement and of course Nelis and Angela who were both covering their mouths in an attempt to hide the smiles that threatened to give away Vala's surprise.

Lexandrius squared the girls against each other and with a flick of his hand, the fight was on. Thinking to test the Chief and make the match somewhat entertaining for those watching, Meela moved in fast, but not overwhelming, allowing Vala plenty of chance to block and respond which Vala did easily. Finding that her opponent did have some skill, Meela pressed harder, with more aggressive attacks thrown at faster speeds. Vala continued to easily block and retaliate, a few times even causing Meela to stumble and step back. Meela gave it her all. Leaping into the air with a flying roundhouse kick she advanced on the Quarian, punching, kicking, dancing across the mat to gain the advantage. Vala countered, responding with her own flurry of moves.

Sweat poured from each woman and sprayed across the mat from the tips of their hair as they twisted and spun, ducking and rolling to evade their opponent and gain the advantage. The slapping of skin as their arms and legs contacted each other or the mat itself, the panting gasps of breath and occasional grunts as a fist or foot scored a hit were the only sounds heard in the cargo bay. Those watching were stunned silent as they watched this awe-inspiring show of deadly skill. Limbs moved in a blur of motion as both women tapped into their power to try for the win. A cry from Meela and a sudden twisting of Vala's body and the Asari woman flew across the mat, tucked into a ball, hitting her shoulder and rolling back to her feet. A burst of blue biotic energy flew from her suddenly outstretched hand, racing towards the lone Quarian. Vala took the impact head on, light and energy flared around her as Meela's biotics and Vala's power collided.

Vala had been anticipating Meela's reaction. Since both women had tapped into their power, she knew it was only a matter of time till one of them unleashed it. As she had tossed Meela across the mat, Vala knew it was coming and prepared herself. She threw up a shield, upon which Meela's biotic blast was disbursed in a shower of color and sparkling energy. Reforming the shield, Vala launched a softball sized missile that slammed into the Asari's stomach, folding her in half before dropping the young woman on the mat knocking her breath out and leaving her stunned. Vala had not waited to see if it worked and had launched herself upward and forward, arching over the empty space between her and Meela before landing atop the stunned woman, one leg on either side of her body and a previously hidden knife held against the Asari's throat. Breathing hard, Vala could feel the blood rushing through her body, felt the channeled power coursing through the very fibers of her being, her face was a mask of fierce determination, eyes glowing bright, though narrowed in focus, Meela stared back in a mixture of disbelief, terror and awe.

"Do you yield?" Vala asked the pinned woman below her who nodded in silent acquiescence. Rising from her crouched position she stood, sheathed the knife under her t-shirt, once again hidden from site and offered her hand to Meela, pulling her to her feet. Meela was still taking deep breaths as she tried to replace the air that had been forced from her body, but she was quickly stabilizing and Vala saw that there were no serious injuries.

"What did you do?" Meela managed to get out between breaths. Vala was silent for a moment as she looked around the room. Dozens of eyes watched her closely, with a variety of expressions on each face and all waiting anxiously for an answer. Vala's eyes met Angela's and for a moment the two girls stood facing each other, sharing a secretive communication. Vala questioning and Angela offering encouragement.

"I have a power, an energy within me. I don't have a better name for it. You have all seen it before as it is the same power my parents used years ago on Rannoch to stop Cerberus. Apparently, this power is genetic and passed on to my siblings and I, though I am the only one within whom it strongly manifests. Very few people know about it outside of the family and close friends and for most of my life I tried my hardest to keep it that way. However, my life has changed. We are on a mission of the unknown and I thought it was time to share.

Much like Admiral Thibodaux demonstrated earlier, people hold secrets. This is true no matter how well you think you know someone. The people we will be meeting are complete strangers to us. We know next to nothing about them, their history, their wants or needs. They may be no different than us or so different we cannot comprehend. We must be willing to be open and trusting, yet we must also use caution and expect the unexpected.

As for what you just saw me do, I know you have questions. The best answer I can tell you right now is to think of what I did as a new form of biotics. It is not the same in behavior or source, but it is the best example to compare it with. I honestly don't know a lot more beyond that as my family and I, along with some of the best genetic researchers in the galaxy have been trying to understand it. Currently, our best guess is that it is a formerly dormant gene in the Quarian people. Something that dates to when we were a primitive species and became dormant as we evolved, and science replaced nature."

Vala patiently and politely answered questions and gave demonstrations on some of what she could do, eventually satisfying and putting at ease her shipmates that she was not an unstable explosive waiting to go off or simply crazy. It was a relief to Vala to come clean with the crew or at least as clean as she would openly admit to the general public. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Angela and Sam who pulled her aside afterward.

"You didn't tell them everything. You know more about your power then you told them." Angela started in on her as soon as the doors closed. "I thought you said you were going to tell them everything."

"Angela, go easy on her. She told enough." Sam spoke hushing her daughter, but a look of concern was across her face.

"I know Angie and thank you Sam. I didn't know how to say the rest or if I should just yet. What I told and showed them was the same the Retrievers knew about me also. I have no idea how the galaxy is going to react when they learn that the Quarians, a race of people considered by most to be inferior are not, and not only are they not an inferior species, but they actually have the ability to become powerfully enhanced through their natural bonding rituals, which by the way, will likely get out sooner than later anyway now that we are back on Rannoch and have started to slow down and spend time truly enjoying life and each other rather than just surviving. The Quarians are beginning a new evolution as a species that has the potential to upset the galaxy in a few generations. Now, that currently does not apply to my situation, as I am not bonded to another and my power comes from essentially a god-like being who just happens to inhabit my home world. Neither one of those items seemed like a good thing to bring up today so I went with the simpler explanation; it's just a new form of biotic power."

"That was for the best Vala. I approve of the choice to hold back on those details. I was already nervous about you going forward with revealing your power. I know it is the wise thing to do and the best for everyone, yourself not the least, but the Admiral in me worried for what it might do to the crew. Rumors, fear and superstition can run amok on a starship and we are not able to transfer personnel if things get ugly. I think you handled it well and relieved immediate fears. Time will tell, but I do not sense any trouble from this, though I do wish you would have told me when you were going to do it."

"I'm sorry Sam. I wasn't planning on doing it that way, but I saw the opportunity and took it."

"Probably for the best. I think the live demonstration combined with the crew's pleasure at seeing that braggart knocked on her ass made the better impression than if you had simply spoke at dinner. At the very least, you earned some respect which will hopefully outweigh any fears." Sam yawned and checked the time. "I think I'm going to retire for the night. It has been an eventful day." Sam hugged both Vala and her daughter then departed leaving the younger women to go back to their quarters. Angela accompanied Vala back to the medical bay where Vala's room was located. Saying their goodnights, Vala entered her small corner of privacy.

Stripping off her work out clothes, she plunged into the shower. As the water washed the sweat from her body and soothed sore muscles her mind wandered with questions of, _did she do the right thing? To which she would reply yes. Will it change things? Yes. Is that good or bad? We will see_. Vala silently argued with herself for a few more minutes until a picture of Angela crossed her mind. Angela standing at the edge of the mat, hands clasped in front of her chest, tense legs upon feet raised on their toes as if to spring to her aid in a moment's notice, brown eyes open wide with excitement and a touch of worry, and her mouth in a wide, warm smile with white teeth flashing from between moist lips… Vala slammed her hand on the controls shutting off the hot water and releasing the cold to pour over her. Crying in shock, her body tensed, and the image of Angela fled her thoughts as she was brought back from her daydream.

"Ugh…" Vala moaned as she stepped from the shower, dried and pulled on her night clothes. Only two things truly scared her, her power and losing Angela. She was coming to terms with her power, today being another large step forward, but Angela, she knew she needed to talk to her. Logically, she knew Angela would never stop being her friend, even if she did not share Vala's feelings. Still, Vala's mind constantly kept her doubting and worried. Crawling into bed, she pulled the covers over her body. This would not be resolved tonight.

Their journey continued onward and the ship's crew continued to bond and become closer. Vala's fears about exposing her power were put to rest as her crew mates accepted her, in fact, most were rather in awe and held her in high esteem. Routine took them through the day to day occasionally interrupted by an injury or minor system malfunction; both easily resolved by the engineering crew or Vala and her young charges. Samantha and her team of scientists and engineers refined their work on the translator microbes and with Neela and Angela working hard on understanding the alien language they felt they were ready for what was to come.

More than a year had passed since their mission began when EDI made the announcement, they had located an approaching vessel. Over a year of living with, working with, and spending time with Angela Thibodaux and Vala had still not said anything. That time had been some of the happiest in her life, and Vala used it as an excuse to not take the leap. She kept saying, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, next time we are alone, only the next time always had an excuse. Now she stood in the C.I.C., staring at the image of an alien, their actual mission unfolding in real life before her eyes. Vala's mind was racing as her medical training made quick scan and observations, diagnosis and treatment plans. Providing aid to these people was her primary and secondary thoughts, however in the back of her mind a tiny voice wept that she may have missed her chance. Next time may be in the past. For a brief second, a sadness washed over her. Snapping away from those thoughts, they couldn't be helped now, Vala began issuing orders despite her superiors standing in the room.

"Get us to that ship Joker. Those people need help. Isolate the medical bay until I can confirm if they carry any contaminants that can harm us. Plenty of food and water from the galley. I don't know what they eat so have the cook break out the nutrient bars, both dextro and amino based. Move quickly, we may not have a lot of time." Vala returned her eyes to the monitor to see what was happening on the other ship. Onscreen, she watched as the alien woman was helped back to her feet, supported by another, the speaker looked back at Vala, questions in her eyes.

"We are here to help you." Vala began speaking in the alien language the best she could. "Our pilot will dock with your ship. I am a doctor. I will take your team to our ship and heal you. Do you understand?" Vala waited until the alien nodded her head and responded yes. "Joker, dock the ship."

Admiral Thibodaux watched from the side as Vala had taken control and the crew responded without hesitation. She was not offended nor upset. While the military had strict chain of command procedures, it was not uncommon for the ranking medical officer to issue orders over her superiors when their expertise was the priority. Some captains and admirals would be furious with having their authority superseded in that fashion, but Samantha felt pride and she knew Captain Verel felt the same. Part of their job was to train the next generation of officers, something Admiral Thibodaux took very seriously.

"Meet us at the docking port." Vala was telling the aliens. "We can provide medical aid to you and your crew." The alien on screen nodded her agreement and the screen went black as communications were terminated. Vala was already on the move, giving orders to her medical team to meet her at the docking port with stretchers and emergency gear. Verel likewise was informing Lexandrius and his team about the developments and ordering a security squad as well as his field medics to assist Vala.

The _New Horizons_ gave a gentle shudder as the docking tube extended and they could hear the hissing of air as the tube sealed against the other ship and pressurized. EDI confirmed that the alien ship carried a nearly identical atmospheric composition so bio suits would not be needed. The assembled crew watched as the indicator lights flicked from red to green as the tube stabilized before the alert buzzer sounded confirming it was safe to open the hatch. Captain Verel entered his command code and the door slid open. One by one, lights illuminated the docking tube, a plain grey, cylindrical tunnel bridging between the two vessels. On the opposite end from where they stood, they could see the battered and scarred hull of the alien vessel.

A series of clicks and additional hissing as the other ship matched pressurizations and the alien hatch slid open. From within emerged four figures, the two in front familiar to the bridge crew as the female who had spoken to them and the other who caught her when she fainted. The other two were strangers, but all had the same weary expressions on their exhausted and weakened frames. The female was leaning heavily on the arm of the older male while the two others followed behind with guns held lowered yet ready to be used. Neela stepped forward from the New Horizons crew and raising her hands palms outward to show she carried no weapons she stood and waited for the approaching aliens to reach her.

"Fendala, I'm Neela Voln, we spoke briefly on the comm." Neela spoke in a calm voice to the approaching LiThar. She extended her arm to indicate Vala who was waiting in the group behind her. "This is our Chief medical officer, Vala Shepard who you also spoke with earlier. You and your crew are welcome to our ship. Please, let us help you to our medical bay where we can provide aid and you can rest. Are there people in need of assistance? We will be glad to help transport them here if you can show us the way."

The LiThar were now within a few paces of the ambassador and Fendala freed herself from Commander Mavish to stand on her own before replying. "Ambassador, I thank you for the welcome." Then pointing out the other three members in turn for introduction continued. "This is Commander Mavish, Lieutenant Thera our Engineer, and Shethra our medical officer. Our pilot Tevis is still in the cockpit coordinating with your own to secure our ship. We have one more member, Seflo, who is very sick. If you would, Shethra will show you where he is."

Shethra stepped forward, handing off his weapon to Thera. Vala turned and pointed to one of her assistants, Seamus O'Connor, and a couple of security people carrying a stretcher to go with the LiThar and retrieve the sick crew member. The four people moved quickly and disappeared into the alien ship. Neela waited for them to depart before continuing.

"Fendala, may we take you to our medical facility? There, Vala and her team can begin to render aid." Fendala nodded in reply and the group made their way to medical. Most of the New Horizon's crew departed as there was no need for heavy security. Aside from Vala and her assistant, only Ambassador Voln and two security guards came with them. The security guards posted outside the entry while the others went inside. Captain Verel and Admiral Thibodaux returned to the C.I.C., there was no need for them to be there at this time. The ambassador and Vala were more than capable on their own and social niceties could wait till they were healed and rested.

Once inside the med bay, Vala showed each LiThar to a bed where they would be examined and treated. Voln waited till all were seated before approaching Fendala again. "Fendala, we have created a device that can translate our languages and allow us to communicate better. It is a microbe that when injected into the body can allow you to understand anyone in any language that it has come across. We designed this based off your message that was sent two years ago. It is designed to learn and improve overtime as a species' vocabulary and context are better understood. Everyone on this ship has one and back on our home worlds, it is common to implant them in newborn children, so they grow and adapt as the child does. This allows all the various species in our galaxy to communicate without having to learn dozens of languages. Would you consent to having one injected?"

Fendala looked at the Asari ambassador for a few minutes, then turned her head to follow the movements of the other two women in the room. Vala was at table preparing data pads for each of the LiThar, while her assistant arranged what Fendala assumed were scanning devices and medicines on a portable workstation. Since they had arrived in the room, both women had worked with fast efficiency, their motions displaying confidence and familiarity with what they were doing. Fendala felt herself begin to relax. She returned her eyes to the ambassador and nodded her acceptance. Communication was crucial to what was to come. They could not afford an error in understanding.

Neela smiled and nodded to Vala who had finished her preparations and had approached the LiThar woman, her assistant at her side with the tray of equipment. Holding up a needle, Vala began to explain what she was going to do. "Fendala, before I attempt any medical examination on your species, I am going to first inject the translator microbe. There will be a slight discomfort when I do this. After I am done, the microbe will begin working within minutes. I will need to ask you some questions about your species at that time so I can treat you properly. If you will relay that information to your medical officer, I would like to inject him next so I can discuss treatment with him."

Fendala agreed and Vala injected the microbe. Shethra consented as well and was injected immediately after. Vala waited a few minutes to allow the microbe to activate and make the connection it needed to function. After the allotted time Vala asked if they could understand her. Both LiThar's faces brightened in surprise as Vala's words were heard in perfect translation of their native tongue and they responded that they could. Neela watched in satisfaction as Vala went to work, asking Shethra questions, scanning and giving orders to her assistant, Katarina, for medicines, testing and reading those reports back to her. A short while later, the door slid open and Seamus entered with the last two LiThar following, one was the pilot, walking with the pained expression of someone inured but trying not to show it and the other unconscious and on the stretcher. Both LiThar were placed on the waiting beds and Vala quickly moved to examine her additional patients.

Over the next several hours, the three doctors of the _New Horizons_ worked hard treating and healing their guests. By the time they were done, only Fendala and the unconscious Seflo remained in the med bay, the others had been shown to guest quarters where they now slept, allowing the medicines to finish the job Vala's team had started. Finishing her last notes, Vala set Seflo's tablet on the bedside stand and turned down the lighting above his bed. He would be fine. They had brought down his fever, gave him medicine to fight off the infections, and placed him into a deep sleep to allow his body time to rest and repair. He would be awake again in about twelve hours and should be good to rejoin his crew in the next few days. Commander Mavish had thanked them repeatedly, as did Shethra with whom Vala had consulted extensively which had made the treatment smoother and earned her respect from the LiThar doctor. In addition to medical aid, all the LiThar had agreed to the translator microbes after seeing the effectiveness in communications between Vala and Shethra.

Vala exhaled a long, slow release of air. Fortunately, none of the injuries had been worse than a few broken bones and minor infections for all but Seflo. His injuries were minor, but infection had spread largely unchecked throughout his body. With Shethra's help, they had created a medicine that seemed to be working in boosting his immune system and clearing the worst of it. He would require days of bed rest but would recover barring something unforeseen. They would all live and resume normal lives, a few scars and pains in their limbs as souvenirs, but considering the harrowing journey they had been through, they made out well.

Looking at the LiThar woman still in the med bay, Vala gave her a smile and motioned for her to follow as she walked past a dividing glass wall to her personal office. There she crossed to a built-in cabinet on the rear wall and from within removed a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. "I don't know if you have alcohol or something close to it, but please, if you would like, have a drink with me. It burns going down but it will relax you and make life feel a little easier for a time. This bottle is a fifty-year-old scotch whiskey from my father, John Shepard's, home world of Earth. I have always carried a bottle with me in memory of him while I am on assignment." Vala poured the drinks before dropping into the chair behind her desk. Holding up the glass in salute to the LiThar, Vala took a sip then closed her eyes and rested her head against the chair back.

A sudden coughing caused her eyes to spring open, but when she saw it was Fendala holding her hand at her throat and the whiskey sloshing in the near-by glass, she quickly guessed what had happened. "I guess I did not give you proper warning." She spoke as Fendala regained her breath. "It is rather strong to those not used to it."

"I'm okay Vala." Fendala replied. "I should have taken a smaller sip as you did warn me it burns." The LiThar woman coughed again and smiled. "It does warm the insides nicely. And I do enjoy the taste. It reminds me of a drink made on the Northern continent of my home. Nutty, made of the land."

"May be similar after all." Vala admitted. My mother prefers sweeter drinks. Lemonade is her favorite. I will have some made up for you one evening and we can share it."

"I look forward to trying that drink as well. May I ask a question? I do not want to offend; I do not know if I am breaking custom." Fendala looked a little worried so Vala put her at ease. "Please, Fendala, do not worry about offending me. Ask away and I will answer what I can. I have questions as well, but as I have just spent the last few hours asking some very personal questions of you and your people, I think it is only fair you get to do the same.

"Thank you. This is rather new for me. Under Akzunatai's rule, we were, discouraged is probably the nicest way of saying it, from talking or sharing much with anyone. You never really knew who the spies were listening for Akzunatai, and sometimes, just the sound of our voice could enrage him and cause injury or death. Even after five years of freedom from him, it still feels strange to openly talk to someone when I want to without fear of displeasing." Seeing the concern in Vala's eyes Fendala fell silent then apologized. "I'm sorry, I wandered off there."

"Nothing to apologize for. I am just beginning to grasp some of the difficulties of your life. I was able to overhear some of it while you and Ambassador Voln were talking, but I was filtering for medical information at the time and therefore I forget most of the rest. Please, what was the question?"

"Are you really the famous John Shepard's daughter? The John Shepard that defeated the Reapers and stopped the cycle of destruction that had been taking place for millennia." Vala slowly nodded in response. "That is truly incredible and that means that you mother must be the Quarian companion Tali'Zorah vas Normandy."

"I am, and she is, though it is just Tali Shepard now. Mom took dad's last name when they wed, though if you ask her, they were bonded long before that day. That it was just a formality, and an opportunity for a celebration. After the war I guess that made sense. Still, I saw the videos and it was a beautiful formality." Vala smiled at the memory and took another sip of scotch. "How do you know so much about us?"

"As I was telling your ambassador earlier, Akzunatai has kept an eye on your galaxy for long time. The Reapers were the product of one of his earliest creations, the Leviathans, who were indirectly tasked with helping him locate and root out his siblings. When the Reapers were defeated, and rumors of the Leviathan's survival reached him, he also learned the names of the victors. They had been in reports over the years from his spies in your galaxy and he would likely have acted before now if not for the time delay in receiving information. Many things change over the years it takes to travel between us and he could not risk stretching himself that thin on rumors alone.

Before I continue, please forgive me the lack of details. I was privileged to a lot more information than most due to my constant, proximity to Akzunatai as head of his house staff, but he was a secretive and cautious person. One of the effective ways he controlled the information in his intelligence reports was to have them written in the language of the people it concerned. By doing that, he could leave the reports on tables without worrying about the defectors reading them. No one other than he on the entire planet could read them. That made our information gathering slow and difficult as at first, what we had was only that which was spoken aloud that we could understand. Slowly, we learned to recognize certain words or phrases and one of those that came up often was Shepard. It took time, but I was able to associate that name with its written form on the reports. I taught a few others that I knew I could trust to do the same. I had a close friend, Mik-la who could write, and it was she who made copies of all reports that had the name Shepard attached to them. It was she who also smuggled those copies to me in an official courier bag the day we fled OniThar. She is likely dead now. At least, I hope that is the worst that happened to her. Akzunatai is not a forgiving or merciful person."

Fendala fell silent and Vala watched as tears fell from the LiThar's eyes. She slowly rose and walked around her desk to hug the woman. Fendala tensed at first contact, but soon relaxed and gave into the comforting embrace. Vala simply stood holding her. Minutes passed as Fendala allowed herself to release years of pent up anguish. Slowly her mind cleared, her muscles relaxed, the tears stopped falling and the two women separated. Vala passed a cloth to Fendala to wipe her face. Grateful, Fendala smiled her thanks and the two women returned to their seats.

"Thank you, Vala." Fendala spoke as she finished wiping the last of the moisture from her face. "I guess I did not realize I had so much held in. Our journey had not allowed for much time to grieve or dwell on the past. It was all what to do next."

"Anytime Fendala. Healing people is what I do. Not all injuries are physical and not all cures are chemical. Sometimes, an open ear and a hug, the comfort of being with someone who cares is all that is needed. My door is always open."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me and will to the others as well I'm sure. I am tired, though I do want to continue our talk. Would it be possible to continue this after I have rested?"

"Of course. It may be best actually to wait and gather everyone together, so you only need to go through it once. I will talk to the Captain and Admiral. Do you need an escort to your quarters?"

"I remember the way. Good night Vala." Fendala left the med bay. Vala remained at her desk a while longer before making one more check on her patient, then going to sleep. It had been a busy day and she had a feeling that the last year was simply a warmup and now, the main event was about to start.

Three days later, all but those essential to ship operations were gathered in the large cargo bay usually used for physical training. Vala had ordered the postponement after seeing just how tired the LiThar were when none had woken after twelve hours of sleep. She informed Captain Verel that they needed a couple of days of rest and replenishment. There was nothing of impending importance that they could not afford to give these people that. Verel agreed. Now it was time. Commander Mavish and Fendala stood ready to speak and the crew of the _New Horizons_ were assembled and ready to hear.

"Good day to you all. My name is Mavish, I am a LiThar and the commander of the _Verna-Litha_, the vessel tethered to yours. I was once commander of Akzunatai's testing group. We perfected new technology and ship design before it was implemented in his fleet. I was also a resistance fighter within his ranks. Myself, along with many others, including these five here with me, worked patiently from within to find a way to defeat Akzunatai and free our people.

A brief history of our people is simply that we were once a forest dwelling species living on the planet OniThar. Ages ago, Akzunatai invaded our planet, his armies fought ours and we held him off successfully for many years. Akzunatai would not be defeated however, and when he realized he could not win through military conquest, he resorted to destruction. Starting on the Southern continent, he began burning the forests and killing all who the fire didn't. My people did what we could to protect the other species on the planet. We evacuated all we could in secret to the Northern continent where hidden cities below ground could offer protection and safety.

We then went to Akzunatai and made a deal; our servitude for their freedom. In order to stop the destruction of our planet and the slaughter of millions of innocents, we traded their freedom on the Northern continent for our permanent slavery. Akzunatai, recognized the value of having a species like ours to serve him. We are small yes, but strong, intelligent and resourceful. Keep in mind that at this time in history, we were a primitive species, non-space fairing, just the type of vulnerable species Akzunatai preyed upon in those years.

Akzunatai himself was still in the start of his conquests. Yes, he had taken several planets and their species, but they had all either been eliminated or conscripted into his army. He had not yet established a base of operations, nor a non-military arm to run his fledgling empire. We offered him those things and he accepted. Over the ages to follow, we became the force behind the scenes. We made the tools, weapons, ships and other resources to keep his ever-expanding empire alive and growing. Our actions started out as a means of survival, to keep our people and those we swore to protect alive, but over time they changed. Admittedly, some of our people grew content and eventually fully supported Akzunatai, others became complacent, neither approving nor rebelling, just accepting and existing. There are some of us though that resisted. Open rebellion was never an option, this had to be done in secrecy. For generations, the resistance watched and waited for our opportunity. We needed allies, people who could stand up to Akzunatai. Ultimately, we realized that our goals were the same as Akzunatai's, to find his siblings.

When reports began to emerge that one or more may have been in a distant galaxy, we paid attention. Akzunatai created the Leviathans to be his eyes and ears. As you well know, they in turn created the Reapers who began the cycles of destruction in your galaxy. We watched and waited with Akzunatai during those ages as civilizations rose and fell and the evidence that his siblings were influencing events there mounted. Then came the final cycle, the Reapers were defeated by the Shepard and his team, and the siblings were exposed.

Akzunatai's siblings are all beings like him. Born with the creation of the universe in a time beyond our comprehension, they are beings of undocumented abilities. While some became warlike, many became peaceful, inhabiting planets or systems and enhancing biological development. Akzunatai fought them all till he had conquered all he could find, and the rest were forced into hiding. In his quest for domination, finding these hidden siblings was all that mattered and now he believed he had found some.

More years passed, more reports came in from his agents, and we prepared for action. After hundreds of thousands of years, we had a chance, we waited for the moment to act. At last it came one evening. Akzunatai held council and declared war. The generals were given their assignments. It would be years before they were ready and years more to make the journey, which we hoped would provide us the time we needed.

Within hours of that meeting's end, Fendala had sent word through her network, secured the documents that had been painstaking copied over the years and we escaped. Taking a test ship with the latest in technological improvements would give us an edge on our journey while slowing down Akzunatai's own preparations. Our journey took five years, longer than we anticipated due to ill-fated luck with another vessel and continuing problems with our ship as a result. Even so, in order to mount a force large enough for successful invasion of your galaxy, it would have taken Akzunatai this long before he could even start on his journey.

Previously to our departure, the fastest ships in Akzunatai's fleet took a little over four years to make the journey. While we managed to steal the only working model of the improved engine core design that theoretically would shorten that journey by half, the plans and engineers with the knowledge to reproduce it were still there. Even under Akzunatai's threats and non-stop slave driving motivations to move faster, he would need at least two years to build enough cores and another year to fit them to all the ships in the fleet. If he managed to get the entire fleet fitted with the new engines and they departed on a best-case scenario, which would be this year, we should still have about two years to prepare. How long till we can return to your galaxy?"

"Running non-stop at maximum capacity would see us home in just under a year. Normal a few months longer." Replied EDI. "I would recommend a more conservative approach. We need to move fast, but we do not want to end up in the same predicament the Verna-Litha was in. Jeff and I will formulate a plan to maximize our speed without putting us a too great of a risk."

"We can also send warning ahead to our governments. It will still take several months for them to receive the information, but it will give them a head start." Samantha spoke. "Commander, I would like to work with you in sending that message. We have people back home that may know more about Akzunatai and his siblings, as well as some of the spies he has sent. They may be able to gain a better understanding of these documents you copied if we can send them."

"Yes, of course Admiral." The commander replied. "We want to see Akzunatai defeated, not another conquest. Anything we can do to assist we will gladly do. Our information, resources and time are all yours."

"Thank you, Commander Mavish. We will meet later to go over everything and prepare a message. EDI, Jeff, get working on that plan to get us home. I want a report on my desk in eight hours. Lexandrius, have your team assist in clearing room in the cargo bay for the LiThar vessel. EDI tells me it will fit in the main bay. We do not want to leave it behind, and the added weight will affect us less if it is within the ship rather than being towed. Vala, have the LiThar been cleared from your roster?"

"All but Seflo ma'am. I would recommend he remain on bed rest for another couple of days then light duty for a week to regain his strength."

"Very well. Everyone, we have a long journey ahead. Time is against us. We have accomplished half of our mission, now the most critical part lays ahead of us; getting home safely and timely. We are a strong crew, and the addition of the LiThar will strengthen us even more. Dismissed."

The assembled crew broke up, hurrying to their stations while the LiThar met with Lexandrius to arrange for bringing their ship aboard. Vala watched it all with unseeing eyes. She was distracted as her mind was racing with thoughts and emotions. Akzunatai frightened her on a level her shipmates could not comprehend. He was the same type of being from which her powers came from. The same type whose base elements were part of her own genetic make-up, and not just hers, but her siblings as well. Her parents were a part of it, attached to it, bonded to it. What would this mean if they met? What happens if they fight? What if they lose? Vala felt a chill run her body and she suddenly felt lightheaded and her legs gave out.

She never hit the floor as two strong arms suddenly grabbed her and held her until Vala's head cleared allowing her to regain her balance. She registered the feel of those hands, the thick, tough palms and the feel of furry arms against the bare skin on her own arms. Fendala. The LiThar woman had approached Vala to ask about Seflo when she saw the Quarian begin to faint. While Vala was not a big person, most Quarians were lighter on the body mass scale than other species in the galaxy, she still weighed twice as much as the tiny LiThar woman who held her steady, taking Vala's weight in her arms as though she were cradling a small child. Vala's inquisitive mind latched onto this fact as a stabilizing point and within seconds, Vala's thoughts cleared. "Thank you, Fendala. I'm okay now. My nerves must have gotten the better of me for a moment."

"Of course. Glad I was nearby to help. If I may ask, how is Seflo?" Fendala's voice was filled with concern and Vala could sense the woman was concerned. "I heard what you said, I just wanted to make sure there was no lingering issues."

"He is improving constantly and will recover with little lingering effects. Truthfully, he could return to duty now if needed. Fortunately, there is not a pressing need for him to do so which is why I recommended the additional rest. Today we can afford to be a man down. Tomorrow we may not have that luxury. I believe in taking advantages whenever I can."

"I agree and thank you for your care. You and your team have been amazing toward us. All your crew has in fact. Something we will not forget nor take for granted, but it is you, Katarina and Seamus that have given us our health and likely, our lives back. For that alone we owe you a debt and at the very least, our thanks."

"You owe me nothing Fendala. Even if it was not my duty and had I not sworn an oath to help and heal, it is who I am and what is right. Your thanks are welcome however and I will be sure to pass along your gratitude to my team." The two women parted and joined the flurry of activity taking place in the ship.

In short order, the _Verna-Litha _was brought abord and secured in the main cargo hold. A report of the mission status, the LiThar and what they had learned about Akzunatai and his plans were all compiled and sent to the array station and the waiting citadel council. EDI and Jeff set the course and the _New Horizons _began its journey home.

The LiThar integrated fast and soon had become as familiar to the Milky Way crew as if they had been there all along. Both crews spent countless hours teaching and learning about each other, sharing technological, biological and societal knowledge with each other, as well as simply becoming friends. The days quickly turned into weeks, then months. They settled into their routines, with downtime filled with many of the same games and competitions they had held during the journey out. The LiThar joined in, providing a surprisingly strong competition that broke a few records and some pride, but did allow for close bonding between the crews. Soon they no longer distinguished themselves as two separate people, but as one.

As the LiThar explained more about Akzunatai, and they studied the reports Fendala had smuggled, the _New Horizons_ leadership were able to shine more light on what they reported and what his plans may be. Akzunatai's information network was vast, perhaps surpassing even the Shadow Broker in terms of scope, if not actual information. He had gained extensive knowledge of the Milky Way forces, politics and civilizations. Perhaps not the most current information, but accurate and informative. If Akzunatai really was bringing his entire empire in a wave of conquest, he held the upper hand in strategic information.

Unfortunately, and much to the LiThar's shame, they simply did not have enough information about Akzunatai's forces. Only a few, such as Commander Mavish were allowed off world and then only for testing purposes and under tight observation. They were not given much freedom to explore and certainly not to ask questions outside their field. Even Fendala, for all her freedoms and closeness to Akzunatai, was not privy to that level of information. She doubted if any beyond Akzunatai and his top military commanders knew the full scope of his forces. What Fendala did know was based mainly from what she had overheard at meetings and educated guessing.

Akzunatai had conquered thousands of worlds over the years, each adding millions more to his ever-growing army. Generations bred and raised to be soldiers. That was all he allowed them to be. Only the LiThar had been spared that fate, becoming servants instead of soldiers and while being a servant gave some of them at least, a more comfortable life than most of his subjects, they were still slaves and regarded by Akzunatai only as tools, useful until they no longer were. In his neglect, they would find strength.

The military had rigid, unyielding commanders. People whose only way of advancing was through Akzunatai's good graces and the only way to be in his good graces was through victory. This forced those who sought power to become lesser versions of Akzunatai himself; tyrannical, strict and unforgiving. For the slaves, their advancements came from their fellow LiThar. Akzunatai never paid them much attention unless he didn't like something they had done. He did not care how they organized or who did what nor how, just that it got done and to his satisfaction. Self-preservation was the driving factor of day-to-day life, and while this did lead some LiThar to turn against their peers to survive, most did what they could to make the best of their lot. This allowed the resistance to not only survive for generations but thrive. Now, a handful of those former slaves, Akzunatai's insignificant servants, were forefront in the fight to defeat him.

Vala was impressed with the LiThar. Not just on their ability to survive, but in how they held hope for the future. Hope alone had sustained their people for millennia when they easily could have given up, died out or become more like their captor. Instead, every generation carried on the hope of the previous. They saw their lives not just as individuals but as a greater whole. Vala could think of only the Geth in those terms, but that was not a fair comparison. The Geth, synthetic constructs designed to work together could not begin to compare to an entire civilization of free-willed individuals sacrificing first, their entire race to save as many as they could and then continuing that sacrifice when they could have turned selfish and done different. The only other person she could think of that had made sacrifices of that nature was her father, and then both her mom and dad later. She had shivered at the realization that she was walking a very similar path herself.

It was early one morning when Angela and Fendala entered Vala's office. The determination on Angela's face was in stark contrast to the worry on Fendala's. "We need to talk." Angela's tone left no room for debate. It was a lesson Vala had learned as a child and had been reminded of a few times on this mission. Pressing the comm, Vala told Seamus that he was to join Katarina on the night shift, she would handle daily duties. Seamus happily thanked her before leaving. He and Katarina had developed a very close relationship and with the arrival of the LiThar medic Shethra to even out the duty roster, Vala allowed them to have the same shift often. Waiting till the med bay door closed behind the departing medic, Vala leaned back in her chair and looking Angela in the eyes asked what was going on.

"You need to talk to Fendala about your powers and your connection through your parents to Rannoch." Angela spat the words out as if she were accusing Vala of something. Vala was stunned at the bluntness of Angela's statement, but before she could respond Fendala spoke up.

"Vala, we don't mean to upset you. I overheard some of the others talking about what you did to that soldier during a competition and I asked Angela about it. She told me that your powers were something you inherited from your parents and that they got them through a sacrifice of sorts and a partnership with your home planet? I did not fully understand what all she said, but she mentioned Rannoch and that name I know." Vala's eyebrows raised inquisitively at that and Fendala continued.

"Rannoch was a name mentioned by Akzunatai for one of his siblings. It is one of his primary targets in this war and if you and your family have a connection to this being, if it is indeed more than just a coincidence in names, you are in the direct path of danger." Fendala fell silent and Vala looked from her to Angela, who was watching back with a look of worry on her face. Angela rarely showed fear or worry. Mischief and excitement were more her normal expressions. Seeing her this way made Vala take the LiThar woman far more seriously than she normally would.

"Very well Fendala, I will listen to what you have to say. I admit, we do not know much about the source of this power, but I will share with you what I know, and perhaps it will make sense to you." Vala proceeded to tell the story as she had been told from her parents. The Reaper War, her dad's sacrifice, and return and what he had been told from her grandfather in the afterlife. She told them of her childhood, the attack in the park in London and the awakening of the power within her and her siblings. She told all she could of what it did, how it worked and the connections she could feel between not just her family, but through others. The same connections she used to help her heal people. She told the story of her parent's second sacrifice to stop Cerberus on Rannoch, and the resulting strengthening of the power as a result. She told of how she had struggled and failed, practiced and triumphed, her fears and understandings, the revelations to not only other people but to herself.

Fendala listened to Vala speak, her language moving her, both from the words and body language. She could see that this was a tough subject for her and was glad she had gone to Angela first and that she was here now. Angela had sat down beside Vala and along the way had wrapped an arm around her in support. She now held her friend tight against her body in comfort while Vala finished her story.

"Thank you for sharing that with me Vala." Fendala began after a few moments had passed. "I think I may be able to help some in understanding where those powers come from. As you know, the LiThar have been slaves to Akzunatai for many ages. During that time, many of our positions as slaves had become hereditary, as we were kept under close watch as well as taught by our parents, so what they knew is what we learned.

I am no exception as I learned directly from my mother and helped her in her duties as soon as I was old enough. My family has been the head of Akzunatai's servants for generations beyond count, though that tradition will end with me as I never had children." Fendala's voice faded as her thoughts turned inward. Why had she not had children? She had had opportunity, and there had been plenty of available partners, she supposed it just hadn't happened, but was it too late? Did she miss her chance? Now was not the time to lose herself in these thoughts. She would deal with them later. There was much more at stake than potential children she may have one day.

"I'm sorry, I became distracted for a moment." She apologized before resuming her tale. "This story goes back several generations to my grandmother's grandmother, Adalla. From what I have been taught through the intervening generations is that Adalla was extremely empathic and because of this, she grew closer to Akzunatai than any other before or since. She became his confidant, someone he could share thoughts and concerns and he opened to her, sharing his life, his past and his goals for the future. For a few short years of his existence, we believe he found a modicum of peace with Adalla.

He told Adalla many things, but what always stood out to her was that he too was lost and searching for answers to many of the same questions we asked; who are we, where do we come from and is there a deeper meaning to life? He knew no more than any of us about the origin of his species, only that they had a beginning. He told her about how he and his siblings awoke during universal creation. All around them an explosion of life. It was beautiful. They discovered that they had the power to create and influence life on these newly formed worlds. They could physically shape creation and guide it as they saw fit. This soon led to their eventual splitting as they had different ideas as to what purpose they served in this creation.

As each of the siblings attempted to sway the others to their way of thinking, wars broke out between them. Attempting to gain the upper hand, many such as Akzunatai turned to using their creations to fight while others hid themselves and by infusing their essence into a planet upon which they could raise a civilization, increased their power. This is what beings such as Rannoch and Earth did.

While searching for ways to gain the upper hand or just to stay safely hidden, they discovered that their power did in fact have limits. In order to extend influence beyond those limits, they needed to share their power, duplicate it in the form of offspring. This proved more challenging than they thought. Their species cannot procreate as we know it. They can only do so through proxies. In order to reproduce a true being of their species, they must be willing to first divide and share their power with another being not of their race. That being can then give birth through the normal mean of their species. This does not guarantee success. Not all species can survive the power sharing, most would be destroyed. It would take creatures of exceptional strength and fortitude to be able to do this. Also, the new child would have to be accepting of the power. For most, it would scare them, or possibly destroy them. These factors alone made the option of reproduction nearly impossible, but the biggest obstacle to Akzunatai was in his own sacrifice.

As I said, for them to reproduce, they must first share their power with the candidate parent for the power to take root in the offspring. This process can take years with little to guarantee success. During that time, the source, in this case Akzunatai would become weakened and forced to rely on the creature he is linked with for protection. Akzunatai would never allow himself to be weakened in that manner and relying on others was not something he entertained in the slightest. He had attempted it before, an alliance with one of his brothers. It failed and he ended up killing that brother and destroying all his brother's people. Never again would he do that to himself.

Yet, the idea of creating a direct offspring would not leave him. His reasoning had little to do with legacy or parental urges than it did in multiplying his power. Akzunatai believed that if he could create this offspring and bring it to full power maturity, he could also control it and wield it as an extension of his own being.

He told all of this to Adalla and then asked her to let him try with her. Akzunatai was growing desperate to try his theories, and Adalla had proven herself not only loyal in the way a slave should be, but loyal to the point he could almost imagine trust. He reasoned that she was simply a servant, not a commander of troops, nor a governing person. She was no one and therefore would pose little threat and be easy to control. Adalla accepted, linking with him and the power and months later gave birth to triplets, a boy and two girls.

When the children came of age, Akzunatai was defeated. None of them had bonded with the power, the experiment was a failure. Akzunatai lashed out and killed Adalla in his anger though he let her children live seeing no threat in them since the power did not take. Nothing more would he say on the subject until many years later when he would sense a change in the power.

This is when your story Vala makes what I witnessed more sensible. Several years ago, Akzunatai became disturbed, anxious and his obsession with your galaxy increased tenfold. He kept saying things along the lines of, he could feel the power changing and he could feel his siblings trying to do what he could not. From what you have told me, this must have been the start of Rannoch's plan to link to your father. When Earth joined him, the combined power flows sent waves through whatever pool their power resides in and alerted Akzunatai. Years later, it happened again and this time Akzunatai was outraged. I suspect this is when your father bound himself to Rannoch. Over the following years as reports reached him about your parents and eventually their children, he turned fanatical until something pushed him to declare war on your galaxy. I believe that is when your parents returned to Rannoch. As you said, from then they were both completely marked as Rannoch's guardians and that was also when your own power surged, and you began to rapidly develop and expand your connection to it. I do not know if this is all true, or if I fully understand everything, but the pieces are starting to fit."

Fendala fell silent, watching Vala's reaction to what she had said. The young woman had listened intensely, never interrupting, but Fendala had seen the questions playing in the expressions on the young woman's face. Beside her, Angela's face was also an open book of emotional distress, though not from shock as she had already heard this story, but from concern over Vala. Fendala had watched as every pained or troubling expression that crossed Vala's face was met with one of worry and concern on Angela's.

"I don't know what to say." Vala began after a few minutes of silence had passed. "Thank you, Fendala for telling me this. It does help I think, but it also raises a lot of questions that I fear I may not get answers to till I get home, if even then. I am going to need some time with this. Can I talk to you more about it later?"

"Of course, Vala." Fendala replied. "Take the time you need. I will be here and will try to help you anyway I can. Maybe there is something I know that matters and I just don't see it yet." She stood up and turned towards the door to leave when Vala stopped her.

"Fendala, wait." Vala rose from her seat and moved quickly to hug the small LiThar. "Thank you, I mean it. I'm shaken now, but I also have some answers or at least a better understanding than what I did an hour ago. It means a lot to me that you told me these things, and if I find a way to repay you for all you have sacrificed to bring me this information, even though that was not your original intent, I will do so."

Vala released the hug and Fendala nodded then departed. Vala turned back towards Angela when suddenly the ship's alarms began to sound followed by Captain Verel's voice. "Attention ship! Battle Stations. We are under attack. I repeat we are under attack. Report to your stations immediately. Fendala, Mavish, please report to the C.I.C." Vala and Angela were both out the door before the call had finished. Fendala's revelations would have to wait.

The control room of the Array was dark and quiet. Only a few monitors were on showing the station's status as well as a list of relays and their status. It was late in the watch cycle, most of the assigned staff off duty and asleep. Only a few others would be at their posts throughout the station. Lieutenant Verg Nolum lounged back in his chair reading through a breeding contract for one of his daughters and a member of the Salarian government. He hated negotiating these things, but since becoming head of his family the duty fell to him. The match was a good one and the contract solid, a few minor points to work out, but he could see this being resolved in another day or two at most. Dalla, his daughter would be happy. She had been wanting children since she was a child and had spent considerable effort into finding a mate. This had made Verg's job easier as both parties were highly agreeable making most of the contract work merely a formality. He finished typing his notes and sent it back for review and approvals. Setting the tablet down, he leaned back in his chair and was about to close his eyes when a light on the monitor at his station began to blink.

Verg leaned forward and accepted the message. The screen began to fill with text as the computers decoded the data. Eyes widening with each line he read, Verg punched in a series of commands and the control room began to light up and come alive. Monitors previously on standby now glowed and computers hummed while the overhead lights flickered to life and the large monitors on the bulkhead at the front of the room began to display the information he was seeing on his personal monitor. Verg activated his comm to wake his commanding officer. It was what they had feared. War was coming.

Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. Life has taken some strange turns lately and that has impacted writing time. I am still actively working on the story and will continue to update though right now, I am not certain of the time between chapters. Things are changing daily.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4. **

On the crew deck, inside his personal cabin, Commander Lind Foss sprang from his bed, pulled on his uniform and was in the control room within minutes of Verg waking him. He was reading through the message while others were arriving and assuming their stations. He had made his way through the initial report and was scanning the details as the last of the control crew arrived.

"Get a secured comm to the Council and Shepard Academy, priority Alpha. Encrypt this data and transmit it on that line once they are secure. Bring up the entire perimeter grid now, active scans at max range on all units. Pull the data over the past five years, all anomalies as well as known vessels. I want those reports ready for this meeting. I want data since the Reaper War available within six hours and anything this station has back to its first scan by end of the day. Set up a way to cross reference it to this new data on vessels, flight patterns and scans. I want to know about anything that even remotely matches."

The crew moved instantly as their sections were called on. Salarian efficiency and ability to register, understand and adapt on the go in full effect and with a satisfied smile, Commander Foss went back to reading the report details until he was notified the secured comms were established and ready. He nodded his permission to connect. At the front of the room, two of the large monitors changed to show the Turian and Asari Councilors on one and Admirals Miranda Hannigan and James Vega on the other.

"Good day councilors, Admirals." Commander Foss began. I have just sent you both the report we received here at the array minutes ago from the _New Horizons_. In short, they were successful in contacting the aliens who sent the communication through our relay network nearly three years ago. The aliens they met with are called the LiThar. This group is a leading part of an underground resistance to their overlord, Akzunatai. It is this being that is our enemy. According to the reports, the LiThar escaped their home world, which is also Akzunatai's base of operations, the very night he declared war on our galaxy. His war is not directly with us, but with his siblings, though he does seem to make a connection between them and us, I do not fully understand. Regardless of reason, he is a being of conquest and power, and will gladly destroy or enslave any in his path.

We do not know what kind of species Akzunatai is. The LiThar did not have that information to share, though one of their members had been head of his house hold slaves and says that he is ancient and possesses great power, that by her description sounds similar to biotics or perhaps the same power the Shepard's used to end Cerberus.

What worries us the most and is why we called this urgent meeting is the timetable. Even with our advanced relays that the _New Horizons_ installed, their message has only beat them here by one to two months at best. To make matters worse, the LiThar ship was badly damaged during their journey. What should have given us a two to three-year window before Akzunatai's forces would show, is likely now down to one. In response, I have already activated the relay grid and have begun to cross reference the data we have on alien ship movements with that the LiThar have provided. Hopefully, we can identify their vessels and establish a warning system to guard against them."

"Very good Commander." The Turian Councilor Lanus Victus replied. Lanus was a female cousin of Primarch Victus who had led the Turians through the Reaper War and who still held the position. She had distinguished herself during the war, fighting on Palaven at first and then leading a mixed Turian and Krogan unit both on Palaven and later Earth. After the war, she carried the respect of the Krogan people and was instrumental in establishing partnerships with the Krogan leader Wrex as well as several of the other clan chiefs. As the galactic governments reformed and the council began to reestablish itself, she was elected by the Turians to become their new councilor. She was now the spokeswoman for the council on matters concerning the new alien situation.

"We will bring this to the rest of the council shortly and they will pass it along to their respective military and intelligence leaders. With some luck, we can prevent this from turning into another Reaper War. Admiral Vega, early detection will save lives. Be sure to relay that to your experimental division working with the array scientists to bring that network up to its maximum efficiency. Admiral Hannigan, please inform the Quarians and Geth. Rannoch is the closest planet to the array and if these trajectories are indicative of this Akzunatai's flight path, you will likely be attacked first." Miranda acknowledged the order and Victus' voice softened.

"Miranda." Lanus began. "I leave it to you to notify the families of those on the _New Horizons_. Be discreet but let them know their loved ones are on their way home. It has been a long time since they have had any news. Thankfully, it is the good kind." Miranda nodded in silent agreement and the meeting adjourned. There would be many more of these in the future as the galaxy mobilized in preparations. Once the New Horizons returned, those meetings would likely double.

Lanus Victus shared a silent exchange with her Asari counterpart, Matriarch Aethyta. They had both seen firsthand the devastation of the last galactic war and now they were faced with another. Only thirty years had passed since the Reaper War ended and the galaxy was still recovering. They were nowhere near the strength they had been at that time and even the faster breeding species, Krogan and Salarians, had not returned to their prewar populations. Though not from a lack of trying on the Krogan's part.

The Asari and human governments were shells of their former selves. All the council home worlds still sported more vacant spaces than populated ones, and the colonies were worse. The Batarians, who had been nearly eradicated were largely absent from the reforming society as they tried to find their place in this new galaxy. The Krogan and Quarians were doing the best at recovery, but they were focused more on their homes and reestablishing their cultures and societies now that they were not the galactic punching bags they once were. The Krogan were now heroes, and gaining their freedom from the genophage that had plagued them for generations, as well as the respect of the other council races while guided by the strong and wise leadership of Wrex and Bacara, had led to a renaissance of sorts and Tuchanka thrived. The Quarians likewise were going through a similar time. They had not only ended a war that had been raging between themselves and the Geth and regained their home world, but they had also gained a partner in the Geth. A true symbiotic relationship between organic and synthetic that allowed both societies to thrive beyond anything they could imagine. Tuchanka and Rannoch were fast becoming the centers of the new galactic community.

The galaxy and its citizenry were evolving, some whether they wanted to or not, and the next challenge was upon them. Would they be strong enough to survive or was this the end? Lanus had no answers nor did Aethyta when asked. The two women parted to deliver the news to the other council members. It was going to be a long night.

On Rannoch, Admiral James Vega climbed from his sky car and walked up the flagstone path leading to his house. It had been a long day that had grown longer after the briefing. He had called the academy's department heads together and gave them the same information that had been shared with them. They would keep the training program the same for now, but the postgraduate and research institutions would begin adjusting to the new needs. He would be given status updates in the morning on all projects and would prioritize accordingly.

Now he was tired, hungry and ready to be home. Entering the house, the smell of dinner reached his nose, Latin cuisine with a Japanese twist if he knew his wife. Kasumi Vega nee' Goto once one of the most enigmatic and successful thieves in the galaxy now turned hero, wife and mother, and like himself, pushing sixty years old and refusing to slow down. She met him in the foyer of their home, bounce in her step and a loving smile on her face, she kissed him deeply, as returned the kiss in kind. He knew she was just as concerned as he over the revelations of the day, but she refused to allow them to bring her down in her home. James envied Kasumi her ability to leave work at work. He carried it everywhere, literally and figuratively.

"Bella's home sweetheart. She is in the kitchen, cooking us dinner." The shocked expression on James' face sent Kasumi into fits of laughter, to which he soon joined in. Their ongoing noise brought Bella from the adjoining room to investigate.

Their youngest daughter, much like her older sister Katie, was a beautiful blending of her mother's Japanese features and her father's Hispanic coloring. Tall and athletic with a runner's build, she excelled in cross country track and was often found running across the high desert plains in the early morning hours, and the valley fields in the afternoon. She had deep interest in marine biology and with the Shepard's permission, took their yacht out on the Rannoch Oceans to dive and study the unique aquatic species that inhabited those waters. With those activities and her parents own intensive schedules at the academy, it was not unusual for the three people sharing the house to not see one another often or for very long. For Bella to be home and cooking dinner was a much-needed pleasant surprise for James.

"Is it really so shocking that I am cooking dinner?" Bella questioned the two laughing adults. She knew she was rarely home and when she was, she tended to ignore her parents. Nothing hateful towards them just normal adolescents. Still, Bella knew that something was wrong today when her mother had come home and gone straight to the wine rack. Kasumi didn't drink when she was working, yet as Bella watched her mom pour a rather large glass of the deep red wine, she knew something horrible must have happened. "I saw mom needed a break and so I told her I would cook dinner for us. It is a simple enough meal that I have helped with before."

"Gracias, mi hija." James replied before walking over to hug his daughter. "Your mother and I have had a rough day. This means a lot and we appreciate it."

"Yes, thank you Bella." Kasumi joined in. "We were not laughing at you, we just have had one of those days that was shocking and, well a bit scary, that to be able to say something as mundane and ordinary as our daughter is home and cooking dinner, well, I think it just might have broken what sanity your father and I have left today. And no, we will not tell you what happened. Not yet at least. You will know soon enough."

Bella smiled at her parents though her mind was full of concern. Her entire life, all seventeen years of it, had taught her that her parents were calm under pressure and left work at work. Well, her mom did anyway. Her dad tried his best. When her older sister was born, James and Kasumi knew that they did not want their work life and especially their past to influence or adversely affect their children. Being part of the famous Normandy crew meant that they were celebrities and they were proud of what they had done, but they didn't want that fame to overshadow their children. They wanted them free and clear of that life until they were old enough to decide if they wanted it. It had been difficult to make that break at first, but by the time Katie was old enough to know what was going on around her, they had done so and by the time Bella was born years later, it rarely came up.

The last time Bella could remember seeing her parents this upset about work was years ago when Cerberus had attacked Rannoch. Bella had only been nine years old at the time and had spent most of that day hiding with the other children at school in a shelter built beneath the building in the hard rock foundation of Rannoch. When the fighting was over and she was returned home to her parents, she knew something was wrong. John and Tali, the people she knew with the fun pool and gardens to play in, had died. Her mom had smelled a lot like the wine she was drinking today back then, as she had fallen deep into depression. Her dad had not fared much better though he did manage to take care of Bella. Today, like then, she was worried but knew not to question. They said she would be told later and while she wanted those answers now, she knew she would not get them and only make things worse if she pried. Pulling away from her father's hug, she told them dinner would be ready in about a quarter of an hour and to make themselves comfortable. She would serve it up and call when ready.

James took Kasumi's hand in his and watched his daughter leave the room before turning to kiss his wife. Kasumi returned the gesture with interest. Both were desperate to have something to take their mind off the day's news. Eventually they made their way to the couch where they sat in silence, James with his arm around Kasumi as she leaned her head on his chest. Another galactic war. The words played through James' mind like poison. They were not ready for this, not he, not the academy and certainly not the galaxy at large. He had seen the same fear in the eyes of the councilors and on Miranda's face. Everyone he talked to departed with the same expression and he had to repeat it again tomorrow.

Tomorrow. He exhaled slowly at the word, his body deflating under his wife as he sank into the couch cushions. Tomorrow morning, he and Kasumi were going to tell John and Tali. Normally this would be a source of strength, however after reading the reports, he saw the bigger picture. So did Kasumi and Miranda, Kris and Liara when he showed it to them. Akzunatai was coming here, not just for conquest, or a random selection, he was coming here because of John and Tali. He was coming because of what they had done and who they had become. What their children had become. He was coming and would kill them all and it was because of choices his friend had made.

James was not mad at John; he would tell him to do it all again the exact same way. This was not John's fault through deliberate choice or plan, yet he knew that many would blame him if the connections were made. He also knew that John would blame himself and Tali would react similarly. Then they would turn angry and want to fight. Thirty years they had been retired. Thirty years of being civilians, and still John could not escape from the galaxy's problems. James had seen John sacrifice himself multiple times, even giving his own life twice for the galaxy and now the galaxy would demand more. How much more could his friend take and more troubling to him was, could he himself take it?

"It will be okay honey." Kasumi whispered without moving her head from James' chest. She could feel his tense muscles, hear his accelerated heartbeat and feel the deep breathing that James would do to keep calm. "Tomorrow will be rough, but they are our friends. I know I would not want anyone else to deliver the message. We owe it to them to do so. Together, we will cry and worry, scream and yell, but we will also grow strong and fight. We will once again overcome and defeat the enemy. We will win."

"How do you know? How are you so confident" James replied with uncertainty? "It took all the galaxy had the last time and we only won because John Shepard gave his life to destroy the Reapers. That was no easy thing to do for many reasons. How do you know we can pull that kind of miracle off again?"

Kasumi did not respond right away. Instead, her gaze slowly drifted over the far wall where dozens of photos hung in a multitude of frames. Flashes of memory perfectly captured showing the history of their family, James and Kasumi, Katie and Bella alongside photos of their friends and their kids. Birthdays, holidays, graduations, promotions, all there for the viewing. All happy and joyful. From the dining room came the sounds of Bella setting the table and the smell of the nearly ready meal teased at Kasumi's nose. "I know because we must. For Bella, for Katie, for all of them. We will win because to lose means those pictures over there mean nothing. The past means nothing as there would be no future. I will not let my children not have a future. If that means I fight for selfish reasons, then so be it. I will do what I must to win for them and if it helps others as well, then all the better."

James smiled at the fierceness of his wife. It was one of the things he loved about her. She was sweet, quiet and gentle, quick to laugh and always smiling. Threaten her, her family or those she loved, and your life would be ruined. A spark of hope reignited within him and for the first time that day, his thoughts cleared. James kissed Kasumi, then rested his forehead against hers and they looked into each other's eyes. "I love you Kas."

"I love you too." Just then a soft cough interrupted the moment. Bella had come to tell her parents that dinner was ready, but saw they were in the middle of an intimate moment. "I think dinner is ready." Kasumi smiled at her husband who returned it before they pulled apart and rose to join their daughter. James held out his arm and Kasumi placed her hand on it as he led them to dinner. It was likely these family meals would become scarce soon enough. They set out to make the most of it.

Vala caught herself on the edge of the medical bed as the _New Horizons _lurched violently sideways in response to another volley of enemy fire raking the starboard hull. Her hands slipped on the blood slicked surface, but her feet prevented her from falling as they gripped the deck with their powerfully clawed toes. The lights flickered and she heard Katarina cry out shortly before the sounds of surgical tools hitting the deck echoed through the bay. On the table was Engineer Xal'Mallo, who had been caught in an explosion as he worked to repair a blown relay. The explosion had thrown the Quarian into a damaged railing, the sharpened edge of which had pierced his side and was in danger of rupturing organs. The field medics from Lexandrius' team had had to cut away the rail to free him, which had resulted in the heated metal causing his skin at the entry wound to fuse with the rail. The only good thing was that Xal had passed out from the pain before that had happened and Vala had used drugs to keep him that way.

Of all the advances in technology, there was still little that could be done to make surgery in combat less risky or easier. Medi-gel was nice and highly useful, but it could not remove shrapnel or other foreign bodies. What Vala needed to do was in fact simple, something she would have let either Katarina or Seamus do under normal circumstances. These were not normal. All dozen beds were occupied with most of the injuries minor. Two others, also engineers who had been caught in the initial explosion that had sent Xal to his fate, were sedated and secured as they had injuries that would require more than a quick patch and release. The others were being treated by her assistants and the LiThar medic Shethra who was proving to be a blessing to the suddenly overwhelmed med team.

Shethra had become a source of motivation and excitement for Vala that she had been unaware of needing. While she had enjoyed teaching her young charges and they were excellent students, she had lacked someone of her own skill level to converse and share ideas with. With Shethra's arrival, the three Alliance medical officers found themselves deeply engaged in learning about their new companions as well as instructing him on the anatomy and medical treatments of the Milky Way species. This reciprocation of knowledge had spurred Vala on and she enthusiastically took to both teaching and studying with greater attention than she would have her favorite deserts.

Around her, the ship continued to shudder as the fighting raged outside. Through the ship's comm system, updates from the bridge could be heard along with status updates from various locations throughout the ship. In the back of her mind she was piecing together the battle and her analysis was not good. They were outnumbered and their attackers knew their business. Another violent shudder and the lights flickered as the power surged. Joker had better find them a way out of this in a hurry, Vala thought to herself with a grimace as she reached for her suture gun.

Commander Mavish raced through the wildly shaking ship. In the cargo bay, he had been monitoring the scans of the attacking ships. He recognized them instantly of course. They were an older model scouting vessel, part of a larger carrier fleet that had been sent out years ago. Their objective was observation, scans and status reports, not combat, but they were trained to fight as they were not to let anyone who discovered their presence report it. That was why there were three ships and not one. A single ship was not much threat, but three working together could overcome an enemy. They fought as a pack of wolves would, one jumping in while the other two swung around for their own runs. It was effective, deadly, but Mavish knew the codes for the shield emitters. He knew the weaknesses in their hulls, and he knew their tactics.

"Admiral, Captains!" Mavish shouted over the din of blaring alarms, yelled orders and the groans of stressed metals of the ship itself. "I can help. I know how to defeat them." Admiral Thibodaux's eyes met his and she nodded for him to continue. "Those ships, I know them. They are the previous version of our reconnaissance vessels. Part of a carrier group, they explore in packs when away from the larger ship. This gives them additional resources for gathering intelligence as well as assistance in a fight and if they are at risk of being captured, the standard procedure is for one ship to break away and make their way back to the carrier."

"No offense Mavish," Joker interrupted the LiThar Commander. "I don't need to know how they are kicking our ass; I need to know how to kick theirs."

"Jeff, be quiet." EDI reprimanded her husband. "Commander, please continue. Any help you can give may be useful."

"Yes EDI. Those ships are using outdated technology in both their drive cores and their shielding. I know the coding for their shield modulations, and I can show you weak points to target that will cause a rupture in the core. The problem is we will only have a window of seconds before backups engage and the shields are up. We will also need to target all three ships simultaneously, so they do not switch to survival protocol and flee."

"My reaction times are fast enough to make that window work. Give me the coding for the shields and the coordinates. I already have hacking software in place as I have been hammering them through the ships cyber warfare systems since this began. If I can get into their system, I can time the lowering of the shields for precisely when we need to hit them." EDI's voice was steady but an undercurrent of excitement threatened that calm.

"No good." Interjected Joker. "New Horizons is not a combat ship. I only have two guns and no way to realign and take a second shot within that window. We need a third gun, or one ship will escape." The cockpit fell quiet as they pondered the issue at hand. The seconds ticked by and the battle raged on. Lexandrius broke the silence.

"Mavish, how thick is the hull of those ships? Would a weapon of this caliber rupture it?" The Turian handed Mavish a data pad. Mavish's eyes narrowed as he read the information presented. Then widened with hope.

"Yes, that would work just fine. How do you propose to fire them though?"

"Leave it to my team." Turning to the commanding officers he spoke again. "Permission to do something incredibly risky that I am making up as I go in order to save our asses and stop an enemy threat." Lexandrius saluted the officers and waited for a response. Both Lin Verel and Samantha Thibodaux looked at the Turian with blank expressions then returned the salute in acquiescence. They trusted the Turian Veteran and his team. Sometimes being a leader required one to give up the reins.

Lexandrius spun instantly on his feet, comms already open and firing off orders to his team while sending the data on his pad to Lieutenant Commander Nelis Bav'n. "Nelis, suit up the team, full enviro suits and bring these to the observation platform. We are going to take a little walk. Ambassador Voln, I could use your assistance as well if you can remember your old combat days." His voice faded as he disappeared further into the ship, with Ambassador Voln on his heels. Another violent shudder rippled through the vessel as the cockpit illuminated with light from the flaring shields bringing the commanding officer's attention back to the immediate issues.

"At her station in command, Angela frantically worked to jam the enemy transmissions. Finding and blocking the frequencies was challenging enough, but with the constant pounding the ship was taking that jarred her in her chair, combined with the power surges as both the automated systems and the engineers attempted to compensate the power balance to essential systems, her job had never been more complicated. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lexandrius and Voln leave the command for the lower decks. She had only caught parts of the conversation and hoped that his plan would not create more work for Vala as she knew that the med bay was being slammed with casualties from engineering.

An alarm light began to flash above her console just as the waving lines racing across the screen suddenly spiked. She entered a command sequence and the signal suddenly stopped. _"Another one down." _She exclaimed to herself with pride. The blocker was a program she had designed herself and it was working beautifully. No transmissions had escaped her vigilance. The enemy would not get any intel from this group. A fierce smile was on the young woman's face as her eyes scanned the readings on the glowing monitor.

"Fuck! Everyone brace for impact!" Joker's voice screamed out over the speakers. Angela had barely processed the warning when the computer equipment in front of her exploded. The force of the blast ripped her chair free from the deck, tossing her clear of the fire ball that erupted where she had been stationed. Tumbling across the C.I.C. still strapped into the chair, Angela along with two other crew members who had been nearby slammed into the opposite bulkhead, striking her head on support column and falling unconscious. The ship had taken a sickening lurch as the motion dampers had momentarily gone offline with the power surge and anyone not secured in a seat found themselves tossed around unceremoniously to join Angela on the deck.

"Put that fire out!" Lin Verel's voice carried above the screeching alarms. The ships automatic fire extinguishers were already in action, spraying down the flames that licked over the ruins of the main communications terminals while two crew members scurried in with handheld units to ensure nothing was missed. Next to him, Sam picked herself up off the floor with a helping hand from Mavish. The LiThar had barely moved when the ship lurched though she could see his legs spread and claws extended from all his toes.

"Casualties?" Sam called once she was on her feet. Before anyone could answer her, she saw the damage and her heart leapt into her throat. "Angela!" She cried out and sprung forward toward the pile of human shaped debris laying in a heap on the far side of the C.I.C., Verel and Mavish a half step behind her. She reached the scorched chair, shoved a tangle of wire off her daughter, swept the woman's hair away from her face and pressed her ear to her mouth listening for breath. Mavish and Verel had checked the other two crew members and confirmed they were alive with only minor injuries, but both waited in silence for Angela's status. "She is breathing!"

Both men exhaled the breath they were holding and crossed the space to help free Angela from the chair so she could be moved to medical. Suddenly Fendala was at their side, scooping up Angela's limp form in her arms. "I got her. I will bring her to medical. Go, finish this fight." She turned to leave when Sam grabbed her arm. Fendala met Sam's tear-filled eyes and saw the fear and worry for her daughter. "Admiral, Angela is my friend, as are you and Vala. I know what she means to you. I will not let her become hurt any further. I will take care of her. Go do your job and protect us all." Sam's face hardened and she nodded. Fendala turned and with an ease belittling her small stature and the extra hundred pounds of limp human she was carrying, quickly made her way out of the C.I.C. to the lower decks.

"Mavish, EDI, get ready to drop those shields. Joker give EDI her best shot with the main guns. Reilus, are you ready?"

"I need a few more minutes Admiral. I lost three to injuries with that last blast. Goddamn gun crushed two of their legs and the other was knocked out when we got thrown. Just glad we were not yet outside."

"Lexandrius, I'm on my way." Verel replied before running to assist.

"We can't take much more of that Admiral." Joker spoke from his chair while fingers flew across the controls. "I can only guarantee one chance at this as too much of our power is in the shielding to fire the guns or keep the engines firing much longer. We need a breather." Sam looked at EDI who merely nodded then out the window at the circling enemy ships.

"Then we fucking kill them now." Sam replied with a stillness in her voice that sent a chill up Joker's spine.

The observation doors slid shut as Neela Voln helped Lin Verel set the second gun on its stand while Lexandrius secured it and plugged in the firing controls. The guns had been commandeered from the shuttle and now rested on tripods on the New Horizon's upper observation deck. The deck was small area on the outer hull of the ship that could be shielded to allow an unobstructed view of the galaxy without having to wear an environmental suit. Now it was a fighting platform. The six people standing there would be the third shot needed to win.

They all had their parts to play. The guns took two people to aim and fire, Lexandrius and Verel would take one while Nelis and that young soldier, the one Admiral Thibodaux defeated at the pull-up contest, Robert she thought his name was, would take the other. The remaining soldier was there as a backup for anything that may come up. Her own role was different; she was to use her biotics to create a shield protecting them from enemy fire and other mishaps. In order to fire the guns, the observation shielding would need to come down, which would leave them all vulnerable to enemy gun fire. She would provide a biotic barrier to shield them while allowing their own gunfire to escape. She was also a safety net in case someone became separated from the ship's hull. The mag boots on their environmental suits held fast, but accidents happen and with the violent shaking and sharp maneuvers the ship was making, her being there to catch them was welcome peace of mind.

With the efficiency their team was known for, the last preparations were completed and the guns ready. Lexandrius relayed to the waiting bridge that they were ready. The three-gun crews double checked their boots to ensure they were secure, confirmed the targeting coordinates and waited for the command to fire.

On the bridge, EDI acknowledged the ready confirmation of Lexandrius' team. Entering a series of commands, she indicated her own readiness to Joker, Joker confirmed, and his hands went to the navigation controls.

"Now." Admiral Thibodaux's voice rang out over the din of battle. Joker put the ship in motion rotating the vessel to provide optimal alignment for the guns. EDI's mind was racing, and not just because she was an artificial intelligence multitasking at quantum speeds on dozens of tasks simultaneously, but also because she was scared. This entire maneuver came down to her abilities to drop the shields of three enemy ships and fire the ships main guns at the precise moment. The success of the mission depended upon it, but more importantly to her at that moment was that her husband, the person she loved, the person who helped to give her true life depended upon her. Her family, her friends, people she cared for were onboard this ship and her next actions would determine whether they got to go home. EDI unleashed her virus at the enemy ship's firewalls and watched as their codes were attacked, rewritten and collapsed. She had control.

"Fire." The word leapt from her mouth with the _New Horizon's _guns responding instantly and Lexandrius' guns crews only a second after. The crew was silent as they watched through windows and on monitors the streaking lights of their weapons race through space, pass the unseen barrier where the enemy's shielding should have been and explode upon impacting the three vessels' hulls. The resulting bright flashes of light illuminated the _New Horizon's_ bridge showing the haze of smoke that filled the space as well as the sweat and dirt smeared faces of the exhausted crew. As the light faded, they could see the debris fields where two of the ships had been. The third ship, while still largely intact, drifted lifelessly in space, its own debris leaving a trail as the escaping atmospheric gasses that had once made the vessel inhabitable, now pushed the dead craft away from the _New Horizons_. A collective sigh was heard in the cockpit as they all released the tensions they had been holding.

"EDI." Samantha began after a few moments of silence had passed. Her own thoughts were spinning wildly. They had succeeded. The battle was over. Her ship was damaged. Her crew injured. Her daughter was injured. She was in charge and needed to act. She needed to get to medical and check on Angela. She needed to check on her crew. She needed to repair the communications systems. Angela needed her. Her crew needed her. She needed to sit for a minute. Angela. Her crew. She was in pain. Angela. Her crew… "EDI, scan the remaining vessel and the debris fields for life. I don't think you will find any but let us be sure. Joker run a full system diagnostic. I need to know our status." Activating her comm, she called for Verel's team.

"Captain Verel, Commander Lexandrius, outstanding job to you and your crews. Now I need you to prepare for your next mission. Prep both shuttles. I want two teams ready to depart within the hour. We need to salvage anything useful from that remaining vessel and the debris fields. Any information they have gathered on us, and the Milky Way galaxy. Star charts, movements, communications data, anything and everything. We need to act quick in case they managed to send out a signal we did not block or if more ships head this way." They responded with the standard "yes ma'am" and the comm went silent.

Mavish had been studying the images of the destroyed ships and listening to Admiral Thibodaux's commands with approval. He had a proposal for the woman that he believed may help them all. "Admiral. Allow me to take a couple of my crew and join the salvage teams. We know the technology and can speed up the process. I would also ask that we salvage materials to repair my ship. The little extra time it will take could make a huge difference in giving us another space worthy ship."

Seeing the wisdom in his words, Samantha granted Mavish permission and the LiThar Commander hurried off to prepare his team. Verel reentered the bridge as Mavish was leaving. Recognizing the distraught look in Samantha's eyes, he told her that he could see to the repairs and to go check on her daughter. Samantha thanked the Salarian and quickly made her way to the medical bay. She knew that Angela was in excellent hands with the _New Horizons_ medical team and more specifically Vala Shepard, and she knew that Angela was alive when Fendala had carried her to medical, but this was her daughter, her first born child and Samantha was sick with worry. Reaching the medical deck, Samantha's stomach lurched at the site that met her eyes.

The bay doors were open wide allowing her to see everything taking place. The overhead lights flickered as the power flowed in irregular patterns through damaged circuits. Smoke from small fire, and blown consoles filled the air much as it did the rest of the ship. From several panels on the walls, where once computer screens glowed, now were gaping holes with wires dangling like entrails spilling from a wounded animal. The floor was littered with debris from the various explosions and around one of the beds were puddles of what she had to assume was blood, though the fluids had turned nearly black and begun to congeal.

She observed the LiThar medic Shethra as he finished setting a broken bone in the leg of the security officer that had been crushed by the shuttle gun. He secured a cast around it and injected something into the young man before moving to the next bed that contained the unfortunate partner with a similar injury. Deep in the recesses of Samantha's thoughts, she registered that the LiThar medic was performing exceptionally well and that she would need to commend him for his work, however her immediate attention was not on the chaos of the room, nor the tiny LiThar or even her injured crew occupying the other beds. It was locked onto the far bed next to the chief medical officer's office. In that far corner of the room, Lieutenants Seamus O'Conner and Katarina Sokolov were side-by-side leaning over the prone body of Vala Shepard. On the bed next to them lay Angela.

Samantha could see Angela's chest rising and falling with her breath. She could see the bandages and splints on her arms and the burn treatment cloth covering half her face. As were all the patients, security straps crossed her body anchoring her to the bed to prevent falling if the ship took a sudden lunge. Samantha was at a loss till a gentle voice at her side called her back.

"Admiral? Admiral Thibodaux, are you alright?" Samantha shook her head and turned to look at Shethra who was now standing next to her with a concerned expression on his furry face. "I apologize Admiral for not coming over sooner to check on you. I saw you enter and aside from being a little pale, you appeared well enough to not warrant prioritizing over the more immediate. I hope that was okay. I am still learning your protocols." Samantha nodded in approval and Shethra smiled. "I am assuming you wish for an update?" Samantha nodded again. Shethra knew that she would be concerned for the crew in general, but mostly wanted to know about her daughter. He decided to start there and would relay the rest when asked. "Very well Admiral. Your daughter will be fine. She sustained a broken forearm that we have set and splinted. It will heal nearly as good as new. She received some severe burns on parts of her arms, chest and face. I have been told by Lieutenant Sokolov that the bandages should eliminate nearly all the scarring. She was fortunate to be thrown clear of the main blast. She did suffer a concussion which we are watching, but she has shown no signs of damage and the swelling has subsided. She has not yet woken, but that is likely for the best as she needs to rest. I would recommend you go to bed yourself Admiral, but I understand the concern of a parent for a child. Give us a few hours to finish up with the patients and do some cleaning and I will arrange a place for you to stay by her side."

Shethra watched the Admiral's body language fluctuate as he reported on Angela's condition eventually ending with her shoulders sagging in relief and a grateful thank you spoken from her mouth. Shethra did not have children himself, but he was a commanding officer and had always thought of his crew as his children. He fully understood the grief and worry Admiral Thibodaux was under and how he would react in her position. His admiration and respect for the Human woman went up a few more notches.

"As for the rest, we took quite a beating down here during the battle. Engineering kept us busy with injuries and Engineer Xal'Mallo there was the worst after he became impaled on a railing. The computer systems were becoming unreliable and so Vala chose to perform the surgery herself as it had to be done before further damage was caused to the Quarian. That is where most of the blood is from." Shethra fell silent and closed his eyes for a minute before continuing. "Admiral, Vala is truly amazing. Despite the ship tossing us around like toys, she managed to perform hands-on surgery, cut into his body and removed the railing as well as some other bits of shrapnel to save his life, all the while directing the entire room. She kept her composure through it all, though you can see from the gouges in the decking, she was literally hanging on by her toes." Samantha followed Shethra's fingers to the area below the first bed where she could indeed see through the blood stains, gashes in the metal decking the size of the claws on the Quarian medics feet. That material was hard. It had been designed to prevent accidental explosions from outside the medical facilities from impacting that room. The force required to damage it in that fashion was beyond Samantha's current grasp. She turned her gaze back to Vala's prone form and felt a chill run up her spine.

"When Fendala arrived with Angela in her arms, Vala was in the process of closing up Engineer Mallo's wounds. She told Fendala to place her on that bed and secure her as we had all the patients. She then told Lieutenant Sokolov to begin scans and start the burn treatment and for Lieutenant O'Connor to take over closing up Xal'Mallo's wounds. Rushing to Angela's side, Vala quickly read through Sokolov's scans and helped to finish applying the burn cloth to her face and body. Then, telling Sokolov to attend to the broken arm, she began to do something I have never seen, though I had been told stories that until now, I believed were just to mess with me as the new person.

It was incredible Admiral. The Chief moved to stand over Angela's head and placed her hands on either side, covering her ears. She simply stood there for a few minutes, doing nothing that was visible when suddenly a glow appeared around her hands, much the same as I have seen the Asari demonstrate with their biotics. I had been told that Vala had a similar ability, but this was the first time I had seen her use it. The glow intensified and I could see the strain on Vala's face, as if she were fighting a battle. This went on for minutes when Vala gave a great cry of shock and began to convulse. None of us were sure what to do. Do we interfere or not? We did not know what she was doing to Angela and we were afraid to risk interrupting something crucial. Both Sokolov and O'Connor had told me that Angela and Vala were extremely close and I had seen plenty of evidence of that myself over the months I have been aboard and so we held back knowing that whatever was happening, Vala meant only to help and heal. We watched as her body continued to shake and we could hear her call Angela's name as though she were searching for her. After a couple of minutes of this, she gave a final shudder and collapsed to the deck unconscious. We rushed to her body; she was breathing but non-responsive. Her skin was covered in sweat and cold to the touch. We placed her on that bed and covered her with a blanket. Sokolov and O'Connor began to run scans while I resumed treating the other patients. Then you walked in."

"Admiral." Lieutenant O'Connor was facing the pair. He, like all the crew, was dirty and exhaustion was etched on his face. The whole battle had only lasted about an hour, yet they all felt as though it had been weeks. Samantha acknowledged the young medic and started to walk over to where he and Sokolov stood at Vala's bed. "Admiral, when examining the Chief and the L.C. we noticed something strange. As you are aware, the Chief's eyes always glowed a soft white light that intensified when she was using her power." Samantha nodded as another chill filled her body. She indicated for him to continue. "Well, when we examined the L.C., we noticed that her eyes too now glowed. At first, we thought that it was a residual effect from the Chief's power, but..."

Before he could finish Samantha interrupted. "What color are they glowing Lieutenant?"

"Blue ma'am. Both pairs of eyes are a matching blue."

Samantha Thibodaux stumbled backward as if struck. Shethra quickly slid a chair under her so she could sit. Her mind was racing, and her stomach felt like it would heave up her breakfast. She knew what this meant. John and Tali had explained it to them a long time ago and as the years passed, other Quarians had begun to exhibit the same. It was the bond. The ancient Quarian bond between two people. It was designed to give strength and support, but it also meant the pair shared in all things; including pain. What had Vala done? What did this mean for her daughter? Vala was not an average Quarian. Due to whatever it was her parents had become, Vala was something else. If she and Angela had bonded… A sudden overwhelming desire for Kris swept through her. She felt her composure beginning to crack as the day's developments overcame her. Shoulder shook, her breathing increased and she could feel water on her cheeks as tears began to fall uncontrollably. A soft moan began to emerge from deep within her chest that turned to a wail of anguish as the last of her restraint was battered down.

Shethra did the only thing he could think of at that moment; he wrapped her in a tight hug, squeezing with his considerable strength to provide comfort and let her cry. He could feel her shaking against him and his fur quickly dampened with falling tears. He used his eyes to indicate to the two humans that he had this and to go about their duties. Seamus and Katarina did just that, as they had no idea what to do to help their Admiral. Shethra watched as they finished treatments on the remaining injured crew, dismissed who they could and began to clean the med bay.

The two Lieutenants were efficient, and they completed their tasks and departed for some food and rest before Samantha had recovered from her breakdown. Shethra felt the woman's body stop shaking and relax against him. He could hear her breathing return to a steady pace and her tears dry up. He slowly released his arms freeing Samantha to her own support. Handing her a cloth rag, she took it and wiped her face, drying the moisture from her tears, and removing some of the soot from the smoke. Stepping back Shethra simply watched and waited till Samantha finally looked at him and gave a smile of thanks to which he smiled and nodded in return before speaking.

"You know what this means Admiral?" Samantha nodded but didn't speak. "Is there anything we can or should do? Is this a good or bad thing?" She heard the questions and lowered he eyes to her lap while letting the words settle. Shethra waited patiently for which Samantha was grateful.

"I know what this is, or at least I think I do. They are bonded; joined in a way that defies conventional explanations. It is more than physical or mental, though it includes that, maybe spiritual? More easily to say magical I think." Shethra remained silent but his eyes were wide. He had read about this, or at least what little information was available to read. He had talked to Vala about it a little and he had asked the other Quarians aboard about it, but they were not able to clarify much. The phenomenon, though ancient, was a newly reemerged trait. One that had been long forgotten by everyone and until recently, at best was only a myth in Quarian literature. "There is nothing more we can do until they wake, I fear. We will have to wait till they can answer questions. Continue to treat them medically and bring them to health."

"I will see to it ma'am." Shethra replied with a firm conviction that gave Samantha another relief and boost of confidence.

"Thank you, Shethra. You have been an outstanding crew member and more importantly, a friend to me. I will not forget it." Samantha rose from her chair and Shethra saluted the woman. Sam was caught off guard for a minute at the gesture but recovered and returned the sign of respect. She had been impressed with the LiThar from the start and over the months they had been onboard she had grown to not only respect them, but to genuinely care for and about them. They had quickly evolved beyond refugees to allies and friends. She was too tired to give much thought to it now, but she would find the time to figure out a way to properly repay them and if she could, help their entire race.

Leaving the med bay, she made her way back to the C.I.C. and the busted communications station that awaited her attention. She observed her crew working away at the repairs. Again, she thought of how proud she was of them all and how fortunate she was to have a ship full of outstanding crew members and officers. When she finally had time, her commendation log would be full of names of deserving soldiers. The familiar order of "Admiral on Deck!" greeted her as she stepped into the C.I.C. Captain Verel greeted her and quietly asked about Angela to which she told him that she would be fine though she was still unconscious. She also gave a quick rundown of the crew's medical status; no deaths and only six injuries serious enough to keep those people off duty. Two of them were senior officers. Medical would be well served till Vala recovered and she would cover the communications since after all, that was her specialty. The next few days would be rough, but they would be fine. They had to be.

Akzunatai stood on the bridge of his command carrier. After years of delays, his fleet was finally leaving OniThar. The past few years had not been pleasant ones for the people under his rule. When he had learned about Fendala's defection and escape, he had gone into a rage. Dozens of LiThar died over the following weeks. He knew that most if not all of them likely had little to no knowledge of the plans, but he still needed to make an example. That had been five years ago, and the bodies of the dead still hung from the lower walls of his fortress. He wanted to kill them all and destroy the Northern continent along with the life on it in retaliation, but he knew he needed the LiThar for a little longer. They were invaluable as working slaves to just eliminate. At least until he had Rannoch's power. Oh yes, their reckoning was coming when he returned. Akzunatai played long games and knew how to be patient.

Today at last, was the next major step in his plans. Around him, hundreds of thousands of ships swarmed from the planet and surrounding moons where they had waited. All had been outfitted with the latest and best technology and armament possible. Those onboard had received new armor, weapons and underwent training daily while they waited. The greatest invasion forces the universe had ever seen now set out from OniThar for the distant Milky Way galaxy. Akzunatai would at long last confront Rannoch and any other of his siblings found hiding there. He would destroy them as he should have done at the beginning and then he would be the most powerful being in existence. He would rule the universe with unlimited power, and all would come to serve him or die. Under his feet he felt the ship accelerate and he turned to retire to his chambers. The smile on his face as he walked out made the entire bridge staff shiver with fear.

Apologies for the delay in posting the next chapter. This year has not been kind for finding time to write. I have made a lot of notes and developed the story, just not time to sit down and write. I'm hopeful that the next few months will allow for more time to work on the story. I thank you all for sticking with me during this time, adn for those just joining, welcome!


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5. **

Clouds of dry dust drifted in the hot arid air of Rannoch's high deserts. The sun beat down on small group of individuals crouched behind the burnt husk of a military tank as gun fire impacted the opposite side in loud pings or into the dirt to either side of their makeshift cover sending small plumes of dust into the air where they merged with the dust already there increasing density and making visibility worse.

John Shepard sweated in his armor, the lifesaving metals and impact resistant cloth webbing were the best money could buy as far as protective gear went, however, they did little for temperature comfort. He looked over at James Vega in his heavy armor suit and envied him for a moment. Those suits while big and bulky, came standard with built in climate control. A person could take on an entire squad without breaking a literal sweat. John wiped the sweat from his face and quickly changed the thermal clip in his rifle. He preferred mobility in his armor and this fight would be over shortly anyway. Activating his omni tool, a map of the area spread out on the ground before his squad. They were in an intersection of two major roadways. Ahead of them at the end of the North running street was their objective. A four-story office building belonging to a weapons manufacturer, now occupied by a terrorist group who held hostage the staff. Their intel said that the terrorists were well trained and armed. According to thermal scans of the building, most of the hostages were in a basement room, but there were three on the top floor. They believed these to be the firm's management. Their objective had been simple enough, go in and rescue the hostages, apprehend, or eliminate the terrorists. What they found was a war zone.

The terrorist group was a small army and had taken more than just that building, they occupied a full four-square block radius and were dug in hard. Shepard's team found themselves up against a much tougher fight than they had expected, but after two hours they had cleared the city and were ready to make their final assault.

"Garrus, Kasumi, I need you to remove the sniper nests on both sides of the streets. Once cleared, set up and start taking out the ones in the main building. James, go with them and cover their backs." The three nodded and made a dash for the line of buildings on the right side of the street. A wall mounted ladder would provide them easy access to the roof upon which the snipers had set up one of their nests. From there, they would be able to take out the one on the opposite side of the street. John and the remaining squad laid down cover fire for their friends until they reached cover. Once Garrus' team were safe they resumed firing down the street to keep the terrorist's attention on them.

In less than ten minutes, John's comm beeped and Garrus announced that the snipers had been eliminated. "Our turn." John spoke to the group. "Wrex, Grunt, you will be in the center with me. This will be your favorite kind of maneuver, straight up the middle, full force and through the door. Tali, I need you to get those doors unlocked by the time we get there. Kris, keep us shielded till we approach then blast those doors open wide. I want shock and awe, so they are stunned when we breach." Everyone nodded and Grunt gave his trademark chuckle in anticipation. The clicking of weapons cocking and the subtle shifting of the five people's stances as they readied themselves to spring into action told John that they were ready. "Now."

Blue biotic light flared into a half dome in front of the team as they cleared the side of the tank, pinprick flashes immediately appearing across the surface as the terrorist rounds impacted Kris' shield. John's rifle responded in kind with a steady pop, pop, pop, as he fired in three round bursts at any target that presented. From either side of him the much louder roar of the Krogan shotguns blasting at a slower rate but hurling a much larger rounds toward their targets accompanied John's gun in a symphony of death. Behind the leading trio, Tali worked furiously on her omni tool hacking the electronic locks for the main doors to the office building. From the roof top to their right, Garrus and Kasumi continued to pick off enemy fighters as they appeared in windows while James rained gun fire down on those in the streets ahead of John's party.

The two-hundred yards of street flew by under their feet as the attackers sprinted up the street. The closer they got, the fewer impacts of enemy rounds could be seen on Kris' shield while their own guns fired less as enemies fell and did not get back up. With only a few yards to go, Tali yelled that the doors were free. Kris gave a yell and her shield collapsed into a brilliant ball of light that flew forward and smashed through the doors, breaking them free of their hinges before bursting in a blinding flash of light and furious sound, becoming an extremely powerful flash bang. John's own team had anticipated this, and ears had been covered while dark shades blocked their eyes from the powerful flash.

Immediately following the blast, the two Krogans and one human entered the building, and quickly shot the stunned terrorists who were struggling to regain their feet from where they had been thrown by the biotic blast. "Kris, Grunt, basement. Secure the hostages there. Wrex, Tali, with me upstairs. Garrus, report."

"John." Garrus voice replied through the comms. "Scans show second, and third floors are clear. The remaining targets have pulled back to the fourth with the three hostages. I count three targets. One on either side of the door and the third is standing behind the hostages. That one is likely the leader."

"Roger Garrus." John replied. "Wrex, left, I will go right. Tali, the leader is yours. Do not harm the hostage." Wrex and Tali both nodded in response then they all began to run up the stairs. As they climbed, Garrus kept running commentary on the enemy position adjustments and just as they reached the top floor, Kris reported that the basement was secured and all hostages alive and well. Pausing outside the final door, John's team took their positions. John raised the hand not holding his rifle and with three fingers extended, began to lower them in a silent countdown. Three, two, one, he gripped his rifle and yelled, "Now!" Wrex threw his body forward smashing through the wooden door as if they were paper, John on his heels. Wrex's shields flared around him as gunfire erupted from the enemy and his shotgun answered instantly dropping his target a second before John's rifled echoed and the second target fell.

Tali took a different approach and as the two men entered ahead of her, and used Wrex's massive form as a launch pad to catapult herself up and over the Krogan's back, to soar through the space in the large office's vaulted ceiling, pulling knives from her boots before extending her feet to smash into the last targets shoulder, knocking him to the floor away from the hostages with her own body coming to rest on top of his, one knife at his throat and the other at his side. With a wide grin on her face she looked at the defeated foe and said, "We win."

A loud buzzer sounded followed by a cheer from the hundreds of people in the surrounding stadium that had been watching the action. Tali jumped up from her opponent and sheathed her knives before extending her hand to pull the downed man up to his feet. John and Wrex both holstered their weapons before helping their own opponents to their feet. The defeated "terrorists" rubbed their chests where the fake rounds had hit them. They may not have been lethal, but they still stung.

"Damn Tali, a little heads up next time you are going to use my hump as a springboard. I nearly turned to shoot you. Though I always appreciate a good aerial assault." Wrex chuckled in his gruff voice as they made their way out of the building.

"Sorry Wrex." Tali responded. "I forget you are getting old and soft and that my slight weight would disturb you so much." Wrex began to respond, but John's hand suddenly slapped his chest and a warning grunt accompanied it. Wrex looked at John and saw him shaking his head. "She is setting you up Wrex."

"Aw, you took all the fun away. I wanted to make him squirm." Tali replied in a false whine. "Bacara challenged me to see if I could make him blush." John and Tali laughed while Wrex grumbled the rest of the way back into the street which was now occupied by Miranda Hannigan and Ashley Williams along with other senior officers of the Shepard Academy. Garrus, Kasumi and James were already there and Kris and Grunt along with the "hostages" were emerging from the building behind John's group.

As they all reached the waiting party, Miranda spoke, her voice carrying across the arena so all the spectators could hear as if they were on the street below. "It is my great pleasure to announce that the winners of the 2217 Shepard Academy War Games are once again, the undefeated Normandy crew!" Applause and cheering arose from the spectators as John and his team took a bow.

The War games was an end of training exercise that the graduating class participated in every year. They were given an objective midway through their final year and they had five months to plan and execute. Then, the Normandy crew, led by Admiral John Shepard and whoever he could assemble, would try to stop them. To date, they had prevented every class from winning. It was not that the classes were not capable nor prepared, it was because the games were designed for them to lose. The instructors cleared the underclassmen from the arena and the senior class was gathered in formation on the dusty street at the commands of Admiral Williams. John climbed onto a downed sky car so he could be seen by all.

"Well fought class of 17." John began and led in applause that was taken up by all the instructors and John's team. "You worked together as a team, carried out a solid strategy and fought with the skills we expect from those who graduate from this academy. Now for the bad news. You still lost." The applause died off quickly to be replaced with somber faces. "You lost. Most of your teammates were killed, others injured, and several taken captive. Your mission failed and now others will have to try to do what you could not." He let those words settle into their minds for a minute. They were not pleasant words. He did not want them to be.

Years before when the Academy started, the senior officers had tried to figure out what the graduation requirements would be. What did their cadets need to learn? What skills, what lessons and how to test those. It had taken time, but a curriculum was formed, and the culmination would be these war games; a test of all the things taught over the four years. Miranda and Garrus had taken their plan to John and Tali when it was done to ask them to look it over and provide feedback. John only said one thing: They need to learn loss.

John Shepard, the hero of the galaxy, knew loss well. His entire military career was ear marked by it. Every defining moment of his career was accompanied by losses and it was working through those that had made him successful. All great military leaders had to learn loss to succeed. If they genuinely wanted to prepare these cadets to be great officers, then they needed to teach them to overcome loss.

It had taken them some time to work out the details, but eventually they had decided that there would be one final exercise during the games during which the class would lose to John and his team. It was simple enough to execute. Garrus and Ashley would simply leak the classes plans to the Shepards who would counter what was being planned. To keep it somewhat fair, if either Ashley or Garrus were "caught" the information would stop flowing. It had happened a couple of times in the past and those fights had been virtual blood baths, testing both teams to their extremes. That had not happened today.

"You had a major fault in your strategy that ultimately led to your downfall. There was a spy among you." Eyes went wide and heads swiveled as John spoke those words. The unspoken question of who flew from face to face before the spy stepped forward.

"It was me." Garrus Vakarian stepped forward. The tall Turian General stepped forward, head held high as he met the furious glares of his charges.

"Do not get too angry at your instructor. Every year we slip a spy into the senior class to learn what their plans are so we can defeat them in these games." John held up his hands in a pacifying manner as rumbles of displeasure rose from the assembled class. "It is our final lesson for you before you leave us. Failure is real." The rumbling faded at these words and all eyes looked at him for explanation.

"I failed a lot in my career. I failed my missions. I failed my superiors. I failed my shipmates. My failures led to loses of ships, colonies, and lives. Friends and family. Each one of them weighs heavily on my still today. They are also important to my successes. I learned from them. Grew from them. Used them for motivation to do better. Failures lead to success.

Today started off on a high for most of you. Your last day of testing. One more mission. You were prepared. You had trained, studied, and planned. You were eager and certain, confident, and enthusiastic. You were everything that could be expected, and yet, hours later you had failed. You are fortunate in that this failure is not the end. No one died. Nothing was lost. Nothing hurt more than pride. Tomorrow you will still graduate from the Shepard Academy and the day after many of you will depart for the next stage in your career. Some will stay here on Rannoch, but all will leave the Academy for full active duty somewhere. No matter where you go, what you do, you will once again come to a similar situation as you faced today and regardless of what I wish to say, some of you will face failure again. When that day comes, think back to today's harsh lesson. Remember that failure does not have to mean the end. Often, it is what leads to success."

The arena was quiet, just the soft breeze rustling through the simulated town could be heard in the silence following John's speech. While many eyes were on him, others were cast downward or into the far distance, all deep in thought at the words he said and the emotions each dealt with. They had been harsh words on top of a huge loss. Yet, even the most stubborn of the cadets saw the wisdom in them, though that did little to ease the depressing mood.

"I know I have delivered some tough words today, but not all I have to say is bad. Your instructors will give a full debrief of the exercise, but I want to say that I am proud of all of you. For four years I have watched each of you develop and grow. You have become outstanding soldiers, reliable, trustworthy, and highly skilled. Each of you will go on to become well respected leaders in your fields and strengthen any unit you are assigned to. I would stand beside any one of you in any situation. Now, try not to let the lows of today control you. Go to the debrief, freshen up and relax. Tomorrow is graduation day where we will celebrate your great achievements. Congratulations to every one of you."

"Class, attention!" Roared Ashley's voice and all there snapped to attention, straight, stiff, and unmoving with eyes focused steadily upon John Shepard. "Present arms!" Roared her voice again and arms snapped upward in precision salutes. Admiral John Shepard returned the salute with the same formality, then dropped his arm, turned, and walked away, his team following.

As they departed for the showers, he thought back on the day's events and what he had said. Over the years, he had spent most of his interactions with his namesake academy teaching the unpleasant parts of military service. Like many of the things he had done in his life, this was not something John enjoyed doing, but still took it seriously and gave it his all. The future depended upon how well they prepared today. He admitted that he was probably harsher today than he had been I the past. He had been briefed on the _New Horizons _message and the impending invasion. He was worried, straight up scared really and today's speech had been just as much for his own benefit as the cadets. At least he did have one ray of happiness; he had his friends.

Today had been fun for him in a lot of ways. Both Wrex and Grunt had been able to join this year, which always guaranteed a good time shooting things, and high probability something would explode. Garrus at his side again was always a comfort as he could think of no friend more loyal than that scarred Turian. James had likely needed the release as much as he himself had. John had watched for months as his friend fought with inner demons and Kasumi fretted about her husband. To see him suited up and engaged in something to take his mind off work and worries was good. Kasumi seemed to think so too as she had hardly stopped smiling at James the entire day. Kris had been like dynamite on the edge of exploding since the news of the _New Horizons_ had reached them. She was worried, and when she became worried, she became angry. Sam was her calming influence. Not having her around was pushing Kris' ability to calm her inner rage. The biotic cadets had been both pushed to the edge of their endurance and probably given some of the best training in the academy's history.

Admittedly, he was barely better than Kris. Emotions ragged, anger and depression warring with each other for dominance, most days he just wanted to give up, despite what he showed to the world. Had it not been for Tali all these years, he may have. Tali filled him with strength. Through their bond he gained physical support, but every day she hugged him, kissed him, and reminded him of her love. Every night he held her tight in his arms as they fell asleep and often in between they found more personal and pleasurable ways of showing their affection. Tali was his source of comfort and he hers. She was no less worried than he, possibly more where their daughter was concerned but together, they presented a calm and assured front for their friends and anyone else who needed it.

"So, who is up for drinks?" Garrus asked as they entered the locker room. "We are off duty for the next day which means liberty to get shit faced. Who wants to join?" A general chorus of agreement and cheer went up with the two Krogan voices overpowering all. John had to smile at that. Indeed, it was good to have friends, especially these friends. He whispered a quick prayer to the ancestors for his daughter, their friends and all the crew of the New Horizons for their safe return. Then pulling his shirt on, he stood and announced, "First round is on me!"

_Angie? Angie? Angela! _The fading echoes brought Vala back to consciousness. Slowly her senses began to return to her. She was laying on something hard and soft at the same time. She could feel a gentle breeze caressing her skin and carrying with it the smells of fire and salt water with hints of…bacon? Letting out a moan, eyes flickered open to instantly close again as the bright light from Rannoch's morning sun flooded her site. Her head throbbed with an intense headache and her muscles were sore and aching as though she had just run a marathon and forgot to stretch afterwards. Slowly she began to stir from her prone position on what she now recognized as sand. From nearby she heard someone speak and then she was enveloped in two strong arms that aided her in slowly sitting up.

"Hey there, easy now. Let me help Vala." The gentle voice sounded familiar as did the Vanilla scent that filled Vala's nose as she was guided to a vertical position. Angela had her. She was okay. Vala exhaled and felt the tension drain from her shoulders with the realization that Angela was okay. Though her eyes were still closed, she could feel when Angela moved around her, and the rustling of clothing told Vala that Angela had knelt in front of her. She felt hands brush her hair away from her face and tuck it back behind her ears. Those hands gently, lovingly moved down her head and neck to rest upon Vala's sore shoulders, rubbing lightly. Vala slowly opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the bright sunlight and gasped.

Angela's face was the same face that Vala had always known and loved. Smooth, brown skin and petite mouth framed by dark black hair, currently loose and flowing in waves past her shoulders. The only difference was in her eyes which is what caught Vala's breath. Those formerly dark brown orbs encased in their narrow slits and framed in long black lashes that Vala had been jealous of, now glowed fiercely with bright blue light. Vala stared with wonder as her emotions spun within her. She was about to ask what happened when a surge of warm comfort flooded her body. Starting from deep within her, down in the same wellspring that her power flowed from, it spread outward through her body, racing down arms and legs until she felt it tingling in every extremity. It was Angela. She could feel Angela within her, filling her, completing her. They were bonded. Vala blinked and a smile spread rapidly across her face.

"I love you, Angela."

"I love you too, Vala."

Those were all the words the two women needed to say. They both understood what had happened and why. Years of angst, confusion and fear had been swept aside and amid death, love had triumphed. They had found each other, not just physically, but deeper; they had found each other's souls.

Tears streamed down Vala's face. They were together, but how did they get to Rannoch? It was Rannoch Vala now realized as her eyes cleared, and her brain began to process what her senses were trying to tell her. They were on a beach along the inner sea and judging by the position of the sun and cliffs behind her, they were not far from home. A small fire was burning nearby, and it was from this that the delicious smells of cooking bacon emanated. A few logs were laid in a circle around the fire and she could see where Angela had been sitting due to a partially filled cup resting upon a blanket that covered a portion of the log and foot prints leading to the fire and towards Vala.

Suddenly Vala jerked back from Angela and her body tensed as she saw a third person. Across the fire from where the two women sat was a Quarian male, elderly though not old, of age with her parents perhaps. His hair was short, midnight blue, much like her mother's though grey streaks highlighted it liberally. Age lines showed at the corners of his mouth and eyes, eyes that shone with the white glow of the Quarians. He was watching them and smiling as of a parent to a child who had done something for which they were immensely proud.

Angela turned to see what Vala had reacted too and upon seeing the Quarian spoke. "Ah, yes. This is going to be awkward. Vala, this is your grandfather, Rael'Zorah." Vala tore her gaze from the Quarian to look at Angela. She had to be crazy. This was impossible. Rael'Zorah was dead. He had died years before she was born fighting the Geth. She knew the story well; her parents had told it to her and her siblings often. They had also told her that they had met him again, later. Oh, no. Vala's eyes went wide, and tears threatened to fall again.

"Keelah, are we dead?"

"You are not dead." The softly spoken words came from across the campfire to the girls' ears as the Quarian stood and began to walk over to them. "You are alive, though unconscious and still on your ship. Your colleagues are looking after you. Vala, you passed out after healing Angela. The strain of using the amount of energy you expended combined with the shock of the bonding was more than your body could handle. I brought you here to let you rest and to talk."

Vala was calming as she listened to Rael speak. His words were gentle, and she could sense the truth in them. "Mom and dad told me stories of meeting you, first just dad when he was injured after the Reaper War and then both after Cerberus. I was never certain if they were true or not, though I trusted them to be so. After all, having the power of a god at our command is crazy enough, why would talking to our ancestors be any stranger?"

Rael smiled at her and then gestured for them to take seats. "Please, get comfortable. Angela has been cooking some food for you. Eat, please. You need to regain your strength." He seated himself back on his log and watched the girls resituate themselves.

Angela helped Vala to a place on her blanket before preparing a plate of the freshly cooked bacon, some biscuits and a cup of coffee and handed it to Vala. Then collected her own and took a seat next to her friend? Girl friend? Partner? She would figure that out later. They were together and there would be a later.

Vala took the food from Angela and inhaled deeply. Bacon. Was there anything better? Probably, but not to her and not right now. She picked up a piece but stopped short of taking a bite. "Grandfather." She began then paused and laughed. "Wow, that is going to take some getting used to saying." The giggles subsided and she cleared her throat. "If this is in our heads, is this food real? I mean, does eating it really matter?"

Rael looked at her for a minute before responding. "Vala, granddaughter. Does it matter if it is real? It is comfort. Comfort can heal a person as much as physical nourishment. Think of what happens here as mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. Those things that medicine cannot help. Those strips of bacon are something that you find joy and happiness in. They were prepared with love and concern by one who loves you with all her being. They are done to give you comfort in a time of pain. Put aside science for a while and believe."

She looked at Angela who smiled at her. Love reflected in that face. Those eyes, burned with care, concern and desire and Angela nodded her encouragement. "Fuck it." Vala spoke before taking a large bite of the bacon and sighing in pleasure as the delicious taste of fried pork fat filled her mouth, crispy and chewy textures blended with the smoked, salty flavors of the greasy strips. "The one battle I can never win is the one against bacon."

Angela laughed at that and Rael also smiled and chuckled faintly. "Let us hope our enemies do not invent a bacon shooting gun then. You won't stand a chance." Angela joked. The laughter was good to hear and Vala felt her body relax and the aches and pains begin to fade. Rael was right, she was healing.

"Okay, okay." Vala muttered through a mouthful of bacon and biscuit. "Grandfather, you said you had things to tell us. Please, begin. I can listen and chew at the same time."

Rael nodded and began to talk. "First, let me say that I speak to both of you equally now. Yes, Angela you too. The two of you are now one. I do not mean simply bonded or married, but I mean one. You share everything, feelings, pain, the power, and life. What happens to one happens to the other. If you thought what John and Tali had was unique, you have not seen anything yet. You are more than Quarian and Human, more than the Quarian bond and more than what John and Tali have become. They are conduits, vessels used to create you. You, Vala and you Angela, are the goal. A new being of creation itself, equal to that of Rannoch and its brethren and destined to either save or possibly doom us all."

Both girls were stunned. Mouths open, bacon forgotten. Angela had taken Vala's hand and the girls were each squeezing as if that grasp was their lifeline. A sphere of purple energy, sparkling with power encompassed their joined hands. Rael flicked his eyes toward it and the girls shifted their gaze to follow. "Now close your eyes and concentrate, both of you. Think about your life, your family, home, friends, hopes, wishes, dreams and desires. Think of the water in this lake, the smell of the fire, the warmth of the sun and gentle caress of the breeze. Picture it all in your mind. Let it fill your senses until it is real. Now, open your eyes."

They did as instruct and was met with a scene of wonder. Where their hands lay locked together, a dozen purple and pink leafed Rannoch flowers in full bloom now stood proud. Vala looked at Angela in wonderment. She had never used the power like that before. She had used it to heal, to fight, to shield, but never to create life from nothing. "How is this possible? I've never seen this."

"It is the final step. What makes you special, unique. You came close before Vala. When you heal people, you recreate their damaged bodies to be healthy again."

"Yes, but that is taking what is already there and simply repairing it. I know how biology and chemistry work, what is supposed to be there and what is not. I can expand upon the remaining cells to reproduce what is needed. I have never created from nothing and I have never created life."

"No, but you were not whole before now either." Rael nodded to Angela. "Rannoch, and his kin have spent eons alone. They do not have significant others, loved ones, friends, companions. No one to share in the joys or comfort in the bad. If they were to create a new one of their kind, they wanted to make sure that that being would not suffer the same fate they had. They wanted to ensure that they would have a companion to be with them and in doing so, they could create beings powerful enough to overcome Akzunatai." Here both women looked questioning at Rael.

"But sir, I'm not special like Vala. I don't have power." Angela spoke, but as the words came out of her mouth, she felt a tingling deep inside her. She had thought it just part of the bond, but now she was unsure.

"Angela, darling, you have more power than you think. Only you have provided the calm that Vala needed growing up. Only you gave her unreserved love and trust when even her own family shunned and feared her. You have literally stopped a force of nature in her tracks with a look." Rael began moving closer to the woman who remained seated in thoughtful silence. "And now, you can do even more." Rael grabbed Angela by the arm and with a strength neither girl would have imagined he had, suddenly threw Angela through the air.

Shock flooded Angela as she soared over the fire and away from their campsite. Tumbling over and over, sand, sky, sand, sky flashing before her eyes, something within her snapped and energy flowed free within her, pushing out fear, shock, and doubt. Purple light flared around her and she came to rest on her feet. Crouched and ready to spring, sparks dancing from her fingertips, she looked much like Vala had as a young teenager in a fit of rage. Anger and confusion wrestled within her mind, yet her eyes were sharp with focus as she watched Rael standing opposite her, calmly staring back. Vala had come to her feet next to her grandfather and the energy danced around her own hands.

Angela could feel Vala's emotions. Shock and anger at her grandfather, weariness as to what would happen next and fear for what had happened to Angela. Vala was worried for her. Ever since they were kids, it had been her that worried for Vala. For what the power would do to her. What it would turn her into. She had been scared for her friend. That fear had hardened her resolve to become strong for Vala. To be the person she could trust, confide in, and know she was safe with. She had many times stood just as Vala was now, sans power, same look, same expression, same love.

Angela released the power. The light faded and the energy dissipated. She dropped to her knees and Vala was there instantly, catching her, hugging her, their lips met, and Angela sank into the comfort of that kiss. The passion, the love. Vala. They parted and Angela saw the tears on Vala's cheeks, felt the same on hers and laughed. "Well, shit Vala."

"Well, shit Angela." Vala replied laughing alongside her.

"I guess you have some teaching to do when we get back. This time you throw the rocks and I will try to blast them to dust."

"Deal. I Know a great little cove where this awesome girl once helped me out. Maybe I can take you there." Angela smiled as the memories came flooding back. "It's a date." They picked themselves up and walked together back to the fire and Rael, taking their seats again.

"I am sorry for tossing you Angela. I know that was a rude way to treat my future granddaughter-in-law, but we are running out of time and I still have a lot to tell you." Both women blushed at the title Rael had given Angela, but Angela smiled and nodded and Vala's heart soared. Seeing that they were recovered, Rael continued.

"That lake and those rocks will have to wait a while longer I'm afraid." They looked at him intently. "You cannot go home. Not for a while yet. You must stop Akzunatai and the way to do that is not on Rannoch."

"I thought that retrieving the LiThar, Fendala, Mavish and their crew was the way. That is what we came out here to do." Vala replied to Rael ominous words.

"It is, dear. Partly. You will need them, but the way back home lies on theirs first. You must have them take you back to OniThar. The way to defeat Akzunatai is at the seat of his power. No, he did not merge with a planet like Rannoch or his other siblings, but he has invested much of himself into it regardless. A being like that cannot stay in one place, exuding that much power without an anchor. Energy works with pushes and pulls and that must come from a firm source. He is not OniThar as Rannoch is Rannoch, but his power is anchored there."

"What do we do?" Angela asked while taking Vala's hand in her own.

"I do not know the details on how, but while Akzunatai and his forces are fighting on Rannoch, you must reach OniThar, find his anchor and break it. Then his power can be claimed, the LiThar freed from his control and the forces on Rannoch will have their chance to win."

"It comes to war after all." Vala stated. "We cannot stop it?" She looked with hope at Rael and was met with sadness.

"No, my dear. War is inevitable. Too much is set now in motion to simply stop and even breaking Akzunatai of his power does not guarantee victory. His army is massive. Bigger even than the Reaper fleet, though without the programmed determination. It will be a nightmare war for those fighting. I cannot foresee the outcome. Like you, I can only hope and do what I feel is right."

He fell silent and Vala pondered his words. She gazed out over the waters and let her thoughts wonder. Today had not gone how she thought it would when she had eaten breakfast that morning. Space battles, emergency surgery while under fire, using the power to save Angela's life, nearly dying, meeting her dead grandfather, bonding with her lifetime love, discovering that they are meant to save the universe and are in fact god-like beings with the power of creation literally in their hands and that to even give the people back home a chance to live, they would have to travel to the other side of the universe to rob another god-like being of his power. "Fuck, for once can't someone just say, "Surprise! We got you a puppy!""

Rael and Angela both looked at in surprise at the outburst. Then Angela started to laugh. Rael followed and soon Vala joined them. The laughter came from stress, but the result was peace. The flustered state of Vala's mind cleared. She could feel similar feelings within Angela, but there was also a steady comfort there. They were together. They would get through this like they had a lot of things in life, together.

"Thank you, grandfather." Vala walked over and hugged the elder Quarian. He returned the gesture in kind. "I will do my best to make you proud."

"We both will, grandfather." Angela had walked up to stand next to them. Rael looked at her with a smile on his face and embraced her in a hug as well.

"You already have my dears." Rael replied as a tear slid from his eye. The sky was rapidly darkening around them, the shadows from the cliffs elongating as the sun dropped to the horizon.

"Will we see you again?" Vala asked.

"I do not know dear. I hope so. I would like to meet your brother and sister one day as well. Tell your father and mother I said hi and I love you all." Rael's final words faded with the light taking the fire, beach, and water with it. Vala's consciousness quickly followed, but this time a presence was with her in the darkness. Angela.

Mavish sat in the officer's lounge bent forwards with his arms resting on his knees while Fendala rubbed the muscles in his back. Two days had passed since the battle ended. They had salvaged what they could from the debris field and remaining ship then Joker had set a course and they fled as fast as the damaged ship could manage.

The damage to _New Horizons_ had not been as extensive as he would have thought. Most of it was superficial with a few exceptions. The communications station had been destroyed, but the comm array itself was still in place. Admiral Thibodaux had managed to get computer set up to transmit within hours. It would be some time before they could wage an attack against enemy communications, but they could at least communicate again. The other severe damage was confined to personnel. No deaths, but several people would be out of commission for weeks and many more on light duty. None of his own people had been severely injured and they had gladly stepped up to fill in the gaps.

That extra work was why he was now bent over with Fendala working hard on extremely sore muscles. He had been helping to carry, organize and store the salvaged material in the cargo bay. His species natural strength meant he could easily carry what took three-four of the others to do so. He had been told that there was a species called the Krogan that could match his strength. After learning about them and after the past two days work, he wished a few of them were here.

Fendala was not much better off and he promised her the same treatment when she was done with him. While not an actual engineer, Fendala had learned a lot helping Lieutenant Thera on the Verna-Litha and her small body made her a perfect candidate for working in the small, tight crawl spaces between decks. Without a word of complaint, Fendala had strapped her tool belt on once again and joined Thera in assisting the repairs.

Those two days had flown by in a blur of activity which was probably for the best as if it had not been for the nonstop work, he feared the crew would have sank into depression. Angela was the Admiral's daughter, and though Admiral Thibodaux kept up with her duties and performance as expected of a person with her reputation, it was plain to see she was in pain. Vala was their chief medical officer and her loss in the medical bay had the crew worried. More than that though, both women were loved and respected by the entire crew, including his own people. He had seen Shethra earlier today, but all his medic would do is shake his head in response to the unasked question.

The lounge door slid open and Captain Lin Verel entered the room with Ambassador Neela Voln. Mavish observed the Salarian as he nodded to the two LiThar before walking to the sideboard to make himself plate of food and a drink. The Captain was showing the same signs of wear and fatigue as the rest of the crew; something that gave him credit in Mavish's opinion. He always believed that an officer should share the same conditions as his crew if he were to be a good leader and Verel had proven to be a good leader. Not only was he willing to get his hands dirty working side by side with the crew, he also knew how to lead and when to let others step up. He was the commander of the ship and made sure no one forgot that, but he also listened and deferred to his subordinates when dealing with their area of expertise. That was often a hard practice for senior officers to learn, but for those that did, the resulting effects on the crew were extraordinary.

Ambassador Voln was a presence not to be ignored. They had spent many hours with her both in official capacity and casually as getting to know the LiThar was in fact her job and she executed her job enthusiastically. Mavish admitted that he was truly fascinated by the Asari people, particularly their long-life spans. Voln, he had learned was known as a Matriarch of her people, a person of great respect and after many long and in-depth talks with her, he understood why she was held in such high esteem.

Verel and Voln approached the table where Mavish and Fendala sat, asking if they could join them. Mavish nodded in agreement and the two sat and started to eat their meals. Minutes of silence passed as Fendala continued to work the kinks out of Mavish's back and the others ate. Fendala finished her work and lowered herself into a chair next to Mavish who took her hand in his, thumb rubbing the fur there in gentle, caressing strokes while looking into her eyes. Fendala stared back, both LiThar smiling, sharing a moment of peace, silent, but filled with words that needed not to be said.

"May I ask something Commander, Ambassador?" Voln broke the silence and the LiThar turned their attention to her, Mavish indicating to continue. "When this war is over, assuming we win that is, what do you think the LiThar will do?"

Mavish remained silent for a few moments before finally answering. "Honestly, I do not know Ambassador. I doubt any of us really know. We have always said that we would go back to our real lives when free, but what are those? We have been enslaved for so long that we do not have culture, history or a society that is not a part of Akzunatai's empire. We do not even have true historians that can say for certainty who or what we were before his arrival beyond the stories that have been passed down through the generations. I guess it is safe to say that we will start over. Discover who we can become on our own and where we fit in, not only on OniThar, but in the galaxy as well."

"Do you think your people will want to be a part of a galactic community? I would think that they would be more focused on reestablishing their home world." Voln questioned the LiThar after he finished speaking.

"Well yes, I suppose that we will be largely focused on the developments on OniThar, but I also feel that we will be interested in the larger scene as well. What little we know of our history tells us that we were not an inferior species prior to Akzunatai's arrival. What has been taught to us is that we were capable of space travel and the greater sciences than those we had employed. We had chosen not to do so as we feared what awaited us. It was believed that by staying where we were would keep us safe by not attracting unwanted attention. We were obviously wrong.

Now, whether that is factually true or just a lesson taught by our wise ones on how to live in Akzunatai's world has been debated countless times over. Likely, there is some truth to it, but I do not know. Regardless, if we win our freedom, we will not let ourselves fall again. That will mean being active on a galactic scale and to do that, we will need allies."

Voln nodded in response to Mavish's statement. "That is good Commander, and nothing less than what I would have expected to hear from you. As I am sure you have guessed, you touched upon the very purpose of my visit. We have only received one response from our Council since we informed them that we had found you. Naturally, they want to know if you are interested in becoming a part of our community. Captain Verel, Admiral Thibodaux and I have discussed it at length many times since and have decided that it was time to bring you both into the conversation.

To start, I do not expect, nor truly do I want an answer from you now. We do not know each other well enough for decisions of that magnitude. While we all get along and have found cohesion here, this is an extenuating circumstance. We are both far from home, alone, and fighting for survival. We pull together or perish. While I have no doubt that you are profoundly good people, I have no evidence to the contrary, it is unfair to judge only upon a sample. The same can be said in reverse about us. You have only met a tiny sampling of our people and to my shame, I must admit, not all of those back home are of the same morals as those aboard this vessel. Many far from it. Instead, I bring it up for you to start thinking about your future and that of your people. When this is over, I have a feeling that the six of you are going to have hugely important roles to play in shaping the future of the LiThar. We want to help you do that if you will have us."

"I thank you for your offer Ambassador." Fendala responded. "You are correct in all you have said regarding decision making at this time. However, I will add that we all have bad elements within our societies. Many of my people fully support Akzunatai and would immediately have turned anyone of us into his guards had they caught us. Breaking Akzunatai's hold over us will take more than simply defeating him. Something else our histories teach us is that we were warriors. Highly skilled fighters who defended their planet to a near standstill against Akzunatai in the beginning. It was only the threat of complete destruction of the planet itself that force the surrender. Captain, as you well know, warriors do not become great through peace. It takes fighting to become good at fighting. Before Akzunatai we must have fought someone, and that someone must have been each other.

We all have our faults. That is true no matter who you are, or where you are. Alliances are not made between only those with no faults, neither are friendships. I like to think that we have become friends, Neela, Lin. I know I care just as much about your crew as our own and the actions of you and your own people reflect those sentiments back towards us. I have a gut feeling that we will need each other as allies and more importantly as friends before this is over."

"If I may interject?" Mavish spoke and all three looked at him. "We have no government, no Council, no true leaders. At best we have our elders and wise ones, but they are not an organized system. Other than a few others, our people are not even aware we are out here. You say we will likely be instrumental in decision making when we return, I fear that we will _be_ the leadership when we return. While I agree with caution, generally it is a wise course of action, I believe that we will need an alliance with you long before we have anyone back home to discuss it with or approve it.

I need to discuss this further with Fendala and my crew, but…" He looked at Fendala, exchanging a silent communication. She smiled and gave a slight nod. "I do believe we will be accepting your alliance and look forward to a prosperous future with you." Mavish and Fendala both stood and extended their hands. Voln and Verel mirrored their actions, grasping hands and shaking them. Mavish waited until they departed before turning back to Fendala. "Well, that is that I guess."

"I think it is great. The truth is we will need their help to reclaim our world. Our people know nothing about governing let alone interacting with other species as anything other than servitors. Also, let us be real in that we may have once been fighters, but not anymore. We will need protection, so we do not fall victim to another enemy. It will be good to have friends and mentors. People to guide us and aide us."

"Do you not fear them becoming our new masters?"

"The possibility is there I admit, but I do not think that will be the case. Their council, as well as all their major races disapproves of slavery. While they suffer from the practice, it is not condoned and is constantly hunted down and stopped. As for the shadier aspects of control and influence, again I do not believe this will take place. They are too far away to effectively enforce their rule. It takes far too long to travel between our worlds and communications weeks. Besides, I feel that they genuinely want to help us."

"As do I. It is still nice to hear another say the same though." Mavish smiled at her. He meant the words, but mostly just enjoyed listening to Fendala talk. Over the years they had spent together, he had come to find comfort in talking and listening to Fendala. She was a constant companion; someone he could trust and in turn trusted him. He had been a military scientist his entire life. Raised to be part of Akzunatai's test fleet, he was given much of the same training as his regular troops and expected to perform as one of them. Akzunatai did not believe in wasting resources. Not that he cared for the LiThar people, but he did care for his ships and equipment which meant ensuring they were kept safe and out of enemy hands. To do that, he made sure that those who operated them were trained to keep them safe. It was a hard life and one not given to outside relationships. Love, family, and kids had not been part of Mavish's life. Not till now. His gaze never left her face as they sat in the lounge, eyes locked with one another.

Fendala watched Mavish's body language, facial expressions and saw the uncertainty in his eyes. She knew what he wanted. She wanted it too. Their relationship had been building over the years, starting with just sitting and talking over a drink, to making time to be together a priority during their days. The time spent on the _New Horizons_ had only accelerated what was already there as they had more free time without the stress of survival weighing them down. A surge of emotion rolled through her tiny body. _Enough playing_. Fendala spoke to herself and slowly stood.

Mavish watched her begin to rise and felt sadness creep in as he thought that he had missed another chance, but those thoughts slammed to a stop and his eyes widened in surprise at Fendala's next move. As she continued to rise, her arms raised above her head, torso arched pushing her chest outward with an intake of breath and stretched. Her lithe body, silhouetted by the glow of computers behind her, showing every curve and line to its maximum effect. With half lidded eyes, she turned her head and looked straight at him, giving him a look promising his every desire before turning and slowly, seductively moving her body as her tail flicked in his direction, began to leave the room.

"Mavish." Fendala spoke as she paused her movements though kept her back to him. "Our wise women tell us girls when we are young a tale of our people and where we come from. They say that in the beginning, if two LiThar wanted to mate and start a family, the male had to prove he was an equal to the female. They would give chase through the forest where the female made her home. If the male genuinely wanted her, he would have spent time not only conditioning himself, but studying her, her habits, her territory, so that he would know as much as he could about her. She would do the same about him. The outcome of the chase, whether she escaped, or he caught her mattered little, it was the effort put into it that counted.

Unfortunately, we do not have our forests today. We do however have nearly two hundred feet of corridor between here and my quarters, which by the way, since I am considered an ambassador for my people, I occupy alone. For privacy. I suggest you grab a bottle of that wine on the shelf and let us see what you have learned over the past few years." Fendala winked at him then launched herself through the open lounge door, rounded the corner and took off down the corridor.

Mavish had not been blind and was not slow. He had been stunned at her actions at first but read the signals as clear as day. He had watched as her seductive movements failed to conceal the tightening of her muscles, extremely well-shaped muscles he observed, as well as the slight lean towards the door. The flirtatious tones in her voice sealed the deal and he had prepared himself to spring. As she finished speaking, he saw the subtle shifting in her stance and was already moving before she had left the room.

Grabbing the first bottle his hand touched, he was out the lounge door only a couple of steps behind her. Down the corridor they raced, laughing, and dodging a few surprised crew members. Just out of reach ahead of him, Fendala made one final turn and reached the door controls for her quarters. The doors slid open as Mavish's suddenly airborne form tackled her from behind sending them both tumbling, locked together into the darkened room. The doors slid shut as they wrestled on the floor, neither gaining the upper hand, the bottle of wine rolling away in the confusion. Mavish, felt a shift in Fendala's body and he used it to leverage himself on top of her. He would have made the pin, but Fendala's mouth suddenly closed on his.

The kiss broke his concentration. Their tongues danced, and their breath increased. His hands that had been holding her arms released and moved to her waist, pulling her tight against him, mashing her breasts into his chest, all thoughts of the chase wiped from his mind. The kiss lingered, desire raged through him, then he was flat on his back. Pinned.

Mavish blinked in stunned silence. The kiss broke and Fendala sat on his chest, panting heavily, and smiling down at him. "I think I won Commander." She spoke in a soft voice, through heavy breathing. "I think I will accept your proposal though. You definitely earned it, though I do have one condition." Mavish raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Fendala raised a hand to the zipper on her jumpsuit and slowly lowered it, exposing her furry body, the cleavage between her breasts, and tight muscled stomach before shrugging her shoulders and letting the garment fall to her waist. "You still owe me that massage."

Mavish grinned fiercely and with an ease that Fendala did not expect, flipped their position so he now straddled her, this time trapping her arms at her sides under his legs and with a steady voice that masked his own heavy breathing replied. "Anything my darling."

Shethra and Thera had leapt aside as Fendala flew past them with Mavish right on her heals. They were beginning their shifts, his in medical and hers down in engineering when they were nearly bowled over by the racing bodies. They both stood stunned and watched as Fendala paused to open her door and the commander flew to tackle her from behind. Both lifted their faces, small noses working furiously, then turned to look at each other and smiled. The scent in the air was one of LiThar sexual pheromones so strong that Shethra almost coughed.

"About time." Thera spoke as Fendala's door slid closed. "I was starting to think we were going to have to shove them at each other before much longer." Shethra chuckled in response. Taking Thera's hand in his own, they resumed walking to their stations.

"I guess we can finally tell them about us without feeling bad. I was tired of hiding it from everyone." Shethra and Thera had been friends before they had left OniThar as he was the medic assigned to the experimental division and she their top engineer. He had spent many hours talking to her over reports of her team's injuries and a few times her own. They had become good friends, but that was dangerous to let be known on OniThar, so they did not act upon it. When the mission came up, they both looked forward to getting away, not only for their people, but selfishly for themselves. They soon realized though that being trapped within a small vessel with four others not only did not provide much in the way of privacy, it also placed a lot of restrictions on personal freedoms. Discipline needed to be maintained and jealousy was an easy disruptor of discipline. So, they decided to keep their secret for a while longer. As the journey went on and the years passed, they noticed the deepening relationship between Mavish and Fendala. Thera had tried on multiple occasions to get Fendala to talk about it but failed. Fendala also knew the problems that could arise with personal relationships on small vessels and refused to act, or even acknowledge what was forming between her and Mavish. After arriving aboard the _New Horizons, _it became easier to be together, but still, they wanted to wait. They were not certain if it was yet the right time to reveal their relationship. They had also noticed the tension building between Mavish and Fendala and decided that maybe it would be best to let them lead by example in this area.

"I wonder if we can get our own room also. I find it fun sneaking off to those quiet, empty corners, and this ship has a lot of those! But it would be nice to share a bed together overnight." Thera replied. They came to the lift and shared a quick hug and kiss before Thera boarded for the engineering deck and Shethra continued to medical.

The medical bay was quiet today as he entered and looked around. Only Vala and Angela remained on the beds. The rest of the crew had been released to their quarters, though a few were still on bed rest, especially engineer Xal'Mallo, but the worst was over for them. Lieutenant Katarina Sokolov was finishing her shift noted and nodded to him as he entered before turning back to her notes as he signed for his shift.

"Good morning." She began in her usual cheerful voice, with just a hint of sleep creeping in. "Fairly quiet night. I had to set a dislocated shoulder and wrap a bruised rib from the security team. Apparently, Meela and Nelis were fighting over a boy, and no one will explain exactly what happened. Meela's arm was popped from her socket and Nelis ended up with a large black and blue spot the size of a dinner plate over an incredibly sore rib." She shook her head and handed her completed report to Shethra. "I've seen those two sparing in practice and I swear, they are both lucky they didn't kill each other. They are both incredible fighters. I hope they can work this out without further injury."

Shethra took the report, scanned it briefly and set it aside. "Have you told any of their commanders?" She shook her head in response before replying. "Didn't need to. Commander Lexandrius was the one who brought them in. Said he would handle this foolishness himself." Shethra grimaced at those words. Lexandrius was a nice person, but he was also a tough Commander and would not tolerate that behavior. Likely, their punishment would be far worse than the injuries they now sported.

"What of our Chief and Comms officer?" Shethra asked changing the subject. He knew Admiral Thibodaux would be in shortly on her morning rounds and he wanted to be ready with the latest developments.

"Stable. Vitals look good, great really. If I did not know better, I would say they were simply sleeping. I am hopeful that they will wake soon, but there really is no way of knowing for certain. I have investigated some ways to possibly wake them ourselves. I left the information in the office and gave a copy to Seamus to read as well. Let us know what you think. I do not want to bring it up to the Admiral unless we are all in agreement and understand what would happen, risks and all."

"Agreed. I will look at it after her visit unless something comes up. Anything else?" Katarina told him that was all, and they said goodbye. She departed and Shethra moved to stand over the two prone women. He read the monitor readout over both of their heads before performing a few basic checks of their vitals, then diming the room lights, he headed towards the office to finish settling in for the day. He had barely taken more than a few steps when a voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Shethra, water."

The data pad dropped to the deck as Shethra spun on his paws, jumped, and landed next to Vala as she was trying to sit up, straining against the straps securing her in place. A few quick motions of his hands and the restraints released. He slid an arm under her back and gently helped her into a sitting position before racing to the nearby sink and filling a glass with water. He handed it to Vala then again spun around as Angela too began to stir. He repeated the same actions with the human before activating his equipment to begin scanning the women. As the computer went to work, he activated his comm. "Admiral Thibodaux, Captain Verel, please report to medical immediately."

Samantha had just begun her shift and was finishing turnover from Verel in the C.I.C. This was the third day since their battle and was to be the day they sent their report to the waiting Council. They had held off in sending it in hopes that Vala and Angela would awaken. She did not want to send a report back to Kris or the Shepard's that their child was injured. With the time it took to get messages to them, they would be worried sick while they waited for an update. Still, her duty compelled her to send one today. She had delayed too long, and the Council needed to be alerted to the latest developments.

Verel finished reporting on the overnight developments and Sam went through the relief protocols and assumed command for the day. She looked around at the C.I.C. and pride washed through her. The room still bore signs of the battle with scorch marks from the fires on the support structures and a few of the non-critical computer consoles still inoperable, but most of the room had been restored to prebattle status. The one exception drove a stake through her heart, the ruins of the communications terminal.

The debris had been largely cleared up, but the surrounding console supports, chair brackets and decking were blackened where the fire had been the hottest. The remaining terminal had a large black hole where the controls once glowed. From inside that hole spilled wires like the intestines of a gutted creature. Repairs were underway and communications had been restored at a backup terminal, but the site was a constant reminder of her daughter, unconscious and injured down in the med bay.

"Admiral Thibodaux, Captain Verel, please report to medical immediately."

Samantha froze, her eyes widened, and she whipped her head to see Verel stop mid-motion on his way to the lift, quickly spinning around to meet her gaze. Only a few seconds passed in stunned silence before Samantha was moving. "On our way Lieutenant. Captain Moreau, you have command." The words barely out of her mouth before the lift doors slid shut.

The ride down which only took a few moments felt a lifetime to Samantha. _What was wrong? Did she wake? Did she get worse?_ Her mind was racing through scenarios as she cursed the lift's speed. When they stopped and the doors parted, Samantha was through the opening and sprinting down the corridor, Verel on her heels crying "Make way!" to any crew in their path. Slamming her hand onto the door controls, the medical bay came into view and Samantha slid to a halt. At the far end of the room, Shethra stood between the two sitting women, going over data on his pad. Both Vala and Angela were upright and alternating between taking sips of water and answering the LiThar doctor's questions.

"Angela!" The name came out of Samantha's mouth in an exclamation of relief, a greeting, and a prayer of thanks. Crossing the room with large strides, Sam wrapped her arms around her daughter in a bone crushing embrace, causing Angela to drop her cup and spilling water on the floor.

"Mom. Mom!" Angela tried to speak as her mother's fierce hug crushed her lungs. "Mom, I'm okay, but I won't be if you keep squeezing me like this!" Samantha let out a small laugh and released her daughter. Tears were falling from her eyes leaning wet trails down her cheeks to fall on the bed. She smiled at Angela, at a loss for words then turned to look at Vala. She moved to the Quarians bed and hugged Vala with no less intensity than she had Angela and whispered, "Thank you, for saving my girl."

Vala's own lungs were now undergoing the same crushing force that Angela's had, but she managed to croak out a few words in reply. "Of course, Sam. I love Angela."

Samantha loosened her hug so she could lean back from Vala and look at her face. Vala's familiar features came into focus, light purple skin still smooth with youth yet showing faint lines at the corners of eyes and mouth gave the young woman maturity beyond her age. Framed by long midnight blue hair that had become disheveled, hanging loose and casting shadows around the edges of her face, giving the impression Vala was watching from within a hood, her bright eyes glowed and captured Sam's attention.

Vala had always had mesmerizing eyes for those who could stand to meet her gaze. From birth they glowed a bright white, as did all Quarians, but unique to Vala, within those glowing orbs swam dozens of blue specs. Those specs, ever in motion, captivated some and made others queasy. Their speed would change, increasing in tempo as her emotions heightened and would become a furious swarm when she used her power. They had been a mystery to all as no Quarian had knowledge of this phenomenon. Now those eyes had become solid blue orbs glowing in matching intensity as those now on the face of her daughter. They had become bonded.

Sam knew about the bonding through John and Tali. She knew what it meant, and part of her was jumping with happiness for them both. They had always been best of friends and Sam and Kris had always suspected that they had been even more. Kris was certain that she had once interrupted a make-out session when they were teenagers, but neither brought it up to the girls. They loved Vala as if she were one of their own daughters just as the Shepards loved Angela and her older brother Kyle.

Still, Samantha also feared what this meant for Angela. Vala was special. Something… beyond, was the best word she could think to describe her, and that meant they would never have a normal life. Kris was like that in a way, though not to Vala's extent, and Sam knew how challenging Kris could be at times.

"I love her Sam. I love Angela with everything I am. You are right to fear as a mother should, but I swear, I will not allow harm to find her." Vala had read the thoughts and emotions playing in Sam's mind. She knew what the older woman was going through and respected her for it. Loved her for it in fact. Samantha was a good person, practically family and now, technically she was.

"I know you do Vala." Sam replied and looked at Angela who had been watching the entire time. "I'm incredibly happy for both of you, and yes, I am worried. That is my job as your mother after all." That last comment was emphasized with a look at Angela. "I am going to have one hell of a report back to the Council and an even harder one to write to your other mother, who will be pissed she is not here, but also will be overjoyed for you both. Expect a slap upside your heads though when we return." Samantha smiled at both girls and the tension broke. Soft laughs filled the room and more tears welled in all three women's eyes.

Shethra and Verel had quietly stepped back a few paces to give privacy to the family, now rejoined the group and more hugs were exchanged. The crew really had become a family over the years spent together and the LiThar too had become part of that family. For the past couple of days, that family had been fighting for two of their members, and now were whole once more.

"It is good to see you both awake and healing well." Verel began. "I can also see that there is more to this story than a simple recovery from your injuries." Vala and Angela looked at each other and blushed lightly. "No need to say anything. I need no explanations. I am familiar with the Quarian bonding, or at least as familiar as any non-Quarian can be. Congratulations I suppose are in order so please, consider this mine." He smiled at the women and bowed to them both.

"Thank you, Captain." Vala replied. Then she took a deep breath and looked at both him and Samantha. "I wish we had time to celebrate, but I fear we have more to say about our experience and what is left is not all good news."

"It can wait Vala. You and Angela need to get cleaned up and eat something. We can talk later." Samantha was thinking as a mother and Vala knew it. So did Angela who interrupted.

"No, Admiral. We need to talk now." Samantha felt like she had been slapped. For Angela to call her Admiral meant that this was serious.

"Very well." She replied "Shethra, could you please give us the room." The medic nodded and turned to leave, but Vala's voice stopped him.

"No Shethra. You should be here too. We will need to tell everyone eventually anyway, but this does concern your people greatly so I'm glad one of you are here now." She waited while they pulled chairs over the beds and made themselves comfortable, then they told their story.

The following day Vala Shepard and Angela Thibodaux found themselves in front of the entire crew, basking in the warmth of their congratulations at the announcement of their bonding. For some of them it had been a long time coming, and for all, it was a cause for celebration. The past years had been hard and the last few days even more so, and the news that Vala and Angela had joined was akin to fresh air after suffocating. They took it in joyously, letting the stress and weariness fall from their minds.

Vala, mostly felt embarrassed as did Angela who was flushed red with the attention. They stood together, holding hands, and let the emotions of the crew flow over them. Happiness, joy, love, things that had been absent of late and would be needed in earnest in the days to come. Angela sensed the sudden turn in Vala's thinking and squeezed her hand reassuringly. It was time. Vala blew out her breath and caught Sam's eye. She nodded and Sam's smile faltered before she began to quiet the room.

"Okay, okay. There will be plenty of time to continue the celebrations. Unfortunately, time presses on us and there is another reason we are gathered." Sam's steady voice brought the last of the celebratory noise to a close. The crew watched their Admiral with rapt attention, curiosity and worry in their thoughts. "We are not going home. We are going to OniThar."

Looking over the edge of the cliff behind his house, John could see the entire Val'Shan valley spread out before him like a quilt with squares of farmland bordered by dirt roads and aqueducts on either side of the river Solom Azhana. In the middle of the valley, the river split and diverted around a teardrop shaped island before merging back together to continue its journey North to the great inland sea, Ril Azhana. Upon that island was the capital city Val'Shan, the first city founded on Rannoch after the war and now the heart of both the Quarian and Geth people. A little of twenty miles from where he stood, the sprawling complex of government buildings could be seen gleaming in the morning sun. Built from former live ships, the main structure was made of the great sphere that had once housed the Quarian civilians aboard the _Bilmoth_. Extending from the sphere like hundreds of limbs, struts, catwalks and bridges connected the main building to landing pads, nearby structures and the ground itself with several arching over the river on both sides to allow access from any point in the Valley. North of the city the Solom Azhana traveled through more farmland for nearly one-hundred more miles before reaching the lake, though the last thirty of those mile were primarily swampland where the river again split, though this time into dozens of fingers creating a marshy delta. Before those waters reached the swamps, it passed by one other point of interest: the Shepard Academy.

John Shepard's namesake academy had grown from its early days as an advanced training military school to a full-scale military institution. Still functioning primarily as a training facility, the experimental division had blossomed into one of the most advanced facilities in the galaxy thanks in large part to agreements worked between Admirals Thibodaux, and Hannigan along with the Rannoch government and the Salarian STG unit. Allied teams of Turians and Krogan, Humans and Asari had joined to strengthen both the facility and the planet and to maintain the interspecies relationships that had formed during the Reaper War. As a result, the Academy had turned into a highly fortified base of operations and protection for Val'Shan.

For nearly thirty years, John had stood on this cliff and watched the valley below. A random collection of metal patio furniture had been moved here years before by himself and Tali. Simple things, mesh chairs and small, round tables, usually occupied with a couple of drinks while Tali and John sat quietly, were sun faded with rust showing on the edges. The furniture looked like John felt; strong though aged and frayed at the edges. This was where he often came when he needed to put his life into perspective. It was often easy to forget that he was Rannoch's protector, he and Tali together, but when he was reminded, it was often in a harsh way that sent him here to clear his thoughts.

John's cheek still burned where Kris had slapped him and hour ago. Honestly, it was a milder reaction than he had expected from the woman and nothing he would not recover from. What hurt more was watching her collapse into Tali's arms in tears afterwards. Those heart wrenching cries still rang in his ears.

They had gathered in his house for dinner. Miranda had told him that a message had come from the _New Horizons_ with mixed news. Kasumi and James, Garrus and Ashley, Miranda and Felicia, Kris, John and Tali along with both Hanna and Krios with their spouses had gathered and shared dinner, caught up on what was going on in each other's lives and then listened as Miranda read the message. The successful integration of the LiThar was cause for celebration, and the attack had them all feeling sick with worry, but Vala and Angela's bonding had put them all on the brink. The joy of the news combined with the frustration, anger, and sadness that they were not there to share in it became tinder waiting for a spark. Miranda read the last part of the message, that they were going to OniThar instead of coming home and that it was up to Vala and Angela to break Akzunatai's hold on hi power, and Kris lost control. She screamed and raged, cursing John, the Alliance, Akzunatai and threatened pain in ways that had them all sitting wide eyed and somewhat scared. John had tried to comfort her, and Kris spun, backhanding him hard enough to send him reeling back to the couch before she let out a final scream and collapsed into Tali's arms sobbing.

John exchanged a hurt look with Tali. She could feel his pain for Kris, combined with worry for his friends and most especially their daughter. Tali did not need the bond to know what John was experiencing. She was feeling it too. Still, sometimes helping meant doing nothing and she flicked her eyes to the door. John understood and walked out.

As he had all those times before when his thoughts troubled him, John stared out over the landscape of the planet he had come to love and call home. It was not long until he found himself with company. The others had watched the exchange between Kris and John with silence. These outbursts, though rare anymore, were familiar yet, when Kris struck John, and he had turned and left, they felt uncomfortable. Once her head had cleared, Kris felt horrible. Rising from her knees, she led the group outside and over to where they could see him standing.

"John, I'm sorry." Kris began. "I'm not mad at you. Not really. I just want my wife home. I want my daughter home. I want to hug them and congratulate Vala and Angela and give them shit for not letting us be there. I don't want another fucking war. Believe it or not, I am tired of fighting all the time. I just want my family back and peace."

"Nothing to forgive Kris." John responded turning to face the woman. He took a step forward and embraced her in a tight hug. "I miss them too and want them home. Like you, my whole life has been fighting. These past years have been heaven for me, and I do not want it to change." He released the hug and took her chin his hands, gently lifting her face so he could meet her eyes before continuing in a much louder voice so all of them could hear him clearly. "I've learned too well though that change comes regardless of our wishes. Heaven is only blessed if we continue to ensure it stays that way. We live for ourselves, but we also live for others. Our friends, our families. Neighbors and strangers. Those of us with the abilities must bear the burden for those who cannot, for if we do nothing, then we risk losing everything."

John took a minute to look around at his friends and family. Somber faces all around. Many were looking not at him but at the ground, or off into the distance, listening to him talk but their minds elsewhere. He understood. His own thoughts were not fully here either, but far away with his daughter. "Vala and the _New Horizons _are beyond our aid for now. Nothing more than prayers and thoughts can we send their way. We have to place our trust in them to do what they can just as they are relying on us to protect their home, so it is waiting for them to return."

"Dad," Krios spoke up. "Do you think Vala can do it? Can she stop Akzunatai? I know she is a good healer, but this is far beyond that. I worry she is in over her head." He looked at his father and John could read the concern in his eyes. That same doubt was echoed around the group as John looked at them all in turn. He sighed and entered a command in his omni tool.

"Krios, I know that you and Vala have started talking again, but I also know there is a lot she has not shared with you, or many people for that matter. I am going to show you all a video that Kris sent me a few years back. This was footage taken during a sparring practice between her and Vala not long into Vala's time with the Retrievers." John pressed the final command and a holographic image appeared in the enter of their group. In that image was Kris and Vala at the Retrievers' training room. They watched; mouths open in wonder as the two women fought. The speed in which they moved, the control of biotic and mystical power and the firework explosions that were created when those powers met. The sheer physical strength and incredible agility that each displayed when they came together in a blur of movement was awe-inspiring. Arms and legs working in perfect movement to attack and defend created a beautiful choreography of deadly movement. The fight reached its climax, as their powers met, the women struggled, Kris attempted a final gambit, and the fight ended with Commander Chavolin calling a draw as Vala was pinned beneath Kris, but held a knife tight to Kris' throat.

The image faded and the group remained silent. They were stunned with what they had seen. Kris was undoubtably one of the best biotic warriors in the galaxy. What the woman could do with biotics left Asari matriarchs dumbfounded and defied common knowledge. They knew though that Kris had been made, experimented upon, and turned into what she was by Cerberus. Vala's abilities were unnatural. Unknown. She had been born this way. It was within her DNA and that DNA was new to the galaxy. Biotics had become something that the galaxy was comfortable with, or at least accepted. What Vala, and the Shepards could do was something else and it scared them.

Eyes turned to look at Kris who was smiling at the memory. She had worked with Vala a lot to help the young girl control her power. She had done it the only way she knew how, through fighting. Kris' training had secretly molded Vala into one hell of a fighter and Vala had done her best to keep that secret hidden. Fighting was not her, not what she wanted to be. She was a healer, but Kris had taught her words that she had heard many years before: "Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes heal patients; sometimes execute dangerous people. Either way helps." Kris had known that Vala's life would not be a sheltered one in a hospital simply healing the sick. She may not want to be a fighter, but Vala would not hesitate to do so if it helped. Kris met the gazes of her friends and saw the questions written in their eyes. "Vala can handle herself. I trained her myself when she was a teenager and into her adult years when I could. I helped her develop and control her power. She is a threat, but not to us. May their gods help whoever tries to fuck with her or her family though."

"This was years ago. Since then, she has grown in power and, thanks to Kris, has the skill to control it. She has come into her maturity. Krios, your sister is more than we are, and I owe you all a deeper explanation and confession. Your mother and I made an agreement with Rannoch, not the planet, Rannoch the being. A god-like being whose species has been in existence since the beginning of the universe as we know it. They may well be the original species. They are made of the stuff of creation itself and have been at war with one another since the start. They are not gods though. They are not omnipotent nor omniscient and most do not want dominance over others. Akzunatai does however and he is the reason for their war.

Beings like Rannoch do not have a physical form. Instead, they have infused themselves into the very planet itself and through it, create life. They can subtly influence and manipulate life, which is how species like the Asari gained biotic superiority or the Quarian's bonding ability. Others are more aggressive, look at the Krogan and the hostile environment of Tuchanka for an example. Those beings created a species for defense, a people bred for war, but allowed to go their own way. Whichever path these beings of creation chose, the goal for them was the same, to hide and stay protected from Akzunatai.

Power has limits, and they soon found theirs. Most were fine within their limits, but Akzunatai wanted more. He began to slaughter his siblings when he could find them, attempting to gain their power. He was not successful. Creation had imposed a limit to how much power they could possess. Akzunatai refused to accept that limitation and continue his conquests. He enslaved, destroyed, and spread his influence as far as he could. Instead of investing his power into a planet, or single species as many of his brethren had, he spread himself thin across his dominion. He had no choice if he wanted to maintain absolute control. Without his constant presence, those on the fringes and ignored would in time, break free of his control. Eventually, he realized that he was reaching the end of how far he could extend his powers.

Akzunatai paused in his conquests, holding his armies within the radius in which he could maintain control while sending out independent scouting teams to search for the others. His siblings used the lull in the war to better secure their own positions. It was during this time that some of them began to realize that they needed not only guardians, but someone that could take the offensive. It was too late for them, however. Having fused themselves with their chosen planets, to separate would mean the death of that planet and all the living creatures that they had used their power to create. They needed offspring. To do so though would require leaving themselves vulnerable for years.

Rannoch's brethren cannot reproduce as we understand it. It requires a surrogate. This is where I am Tali came in. At the end of the Reaper War, when I blew up the Citadel and destroyed the Reapers, I went to, well for lack of a better word, the Quarian afterlife. Why there and not human? Simplest explanation is that I had more connection and belief in the Quarian ancestors than I had in any human based religion. It was there that I met Rannoch, via a proxy, Rael'Zorah, Tali's father, your grandfather Krios. It was he that told me who he was, and their history. He then gave me choices. I had earned my place in the afterlife among the ancestors. I could go to it, be happy and that would be it. I could go back, be alive and be with Tali and that would again be all. Then he gave me a third choice. Much the same as the second, I would go back and live, my life would be as I wanted it, but I would become something a bit more. I would become Rannoch's guardian. He would share his power with me and through me, with Tali. Together since we were bonded as he designed in the early Nthula-Dom, we would keep him safe, keep the planet safe as well as those who called it home. It would be through us that he would have a child.

You see, his species is not DNA based like ours. Instead, they are energy. More specifically, they are _the_ energy. The power that my family can use, _is_ Rannoch. Vala though, is something different. When Rannoch shared his power with us, our children were infused with that power. Unlike Tali and myself who are tied to Rannoch, she is her own entity. A new species."

"You said all of your children are this way." Ron Earp, Hanna's husband interrupted. "Why are Hanna and Krios so different then?"

John looked at the young man for a moment. He liked Ron. A human, Alliance soldier who Hanna had met while on leave visiting Earth a few years back. They had connected and became fast friends, staying in contact over the years and then managed to get assigned to a joint species ship patrolling an Asari colony. They began dating and went to Krios wedding together, and a week later he had proposed marriage. Their engagement was four months and then they were wed on the Citadel. That was almost a year ago now.

Ron was like John at that age, an up and coming Marine with hard earned experience in the field and commendations from his superiors. He would likely command his own vessel soon and would have no trouble finding a crew willing to serve under him. Much like Hanna, he had little use for biotics or "special abilities", instead preferring the physical approach. He reminded John a lot of James actually, just smaller. He stood with his arm around Hanna's shoulders, an embrace that showed not only the love he felt for her, but protection. His eyes were alert and muscles tense. He did not know what the threat was, yet his stance spoke volumes to John. Ron was ready to defend his wife. John approved. Dropping his eyes briefly to Hanna's face, he nearly laughed. Hanna was just as alert as Ron. If a battle broke out right then, those two would have each other's backs, both thinking they were protecting the other and both acting as a perfect partner in support. Even had it not been for the tell-tale blue glow of the bond in their eyes, he would have known they were meant for each other. Pride swelled within him.

"Hanna and Krios both carry the power, but no, they are not the same as Vala. As I said, the power is Rannoch, a piece of him, much like we give a part of ourselves in DNA to procreate, so too did Rannoch. That spark, I guess we could call it, resides in each of my children, but only in Vala did it find what it needed to mature. This is not a failing on you Krios, nor you Hanna. It does not belittle either of you in the least, nor does it mean that Vala is better, only that she and Rannoch's spark were compatible in a way that you and Hanna were not. See, Rannoch is a nurturer, a caregiver. His existence has been one of giving to others, encouraging their development, and protecting them in turn. Krios, you wanted distance from the military. That life never appealed to you. You are a creative person, someone interested in the arts, history and being a family man. You are the reason people like Hanna fight. Hanna, you are the ideal marine and officer. Tough, smart, and determined. Strict on discipline yet fair and able to relax among your troops. Those under your command respect you, but more importantly, they love you. You are going to make one hell of a captain soon and in time, an admiral truly worthy of the title. Vala shares a similar spirit with Rannoch. Helping others was always her passion. From bringing home injured animals to saving lives as a medic, she gives of herself always and rarely acts selfishly, often even when she should. She also tends to be shy, aloof, and hesitant to partake in social activities. Her personality most closely matches to Rannoch's.

I think the other main factor was simply that Vala accepted Rannoch into her being. She did not know what it meant at nine years old, but it resonated deep inside her that it was a good thing. Neither of you did this. I do not hold that against you. Both of you were severely injured that day in London and the power was a frightening thing. It scared your mother and I that day as well. In truth, there are a lot of days I wish I had taken another option myself and did not have it in my life. The fact that you were offered the powers of the universe and turned them down, speaks volumes to your character and your honor.

Still, Vala accepted it into her life and gave it what was needed to evolve, allowing it to merge with her very soul. In doing so, she is becoming something beyond a human or quarian, she is becoming something new. The first of her kind. With her bond to Angela, I fear evolution may have taken yet another step towards that new species. Remember, Rannoch created the Nthula-Dom, and the bonding for this very reason. A single being of the power cannot possess more of the power than any other single being. Vala and Angela are two individuals who act as one. They can possess double. It was a gamble on Rannoch's part. An all-or-nothing gambit that has moved into the final round. I believe this coming war is what Rannoch and his kind were preparing for. The final move in a contest that has stretched out since the dawn of time.

So, can Vala do what she has said she was going to do? I do not know. What I do know is that right now, her, Angela, and our other friends and family on that ship are our only hope. I fear for them. I fear for us. I fear that my daughter is destined to either be our savior or our destroyer and above all, I fear that the next time I see her, she will no longer be my Vala."

John fell silent as tears started to fall from his eyes. Krios and Tali moved quickly to embrace him. They too worried for Vala. For Tali, it was as a mother with the same views as John. Krios though found himself wracked with guilt. What his father had said was true, he had been afraid of the power and rejected it. Perhaps not as strongly as Hanna had; she all but denied its existence, but for years he had tried to ignore it and that had put him more on Hanna's side in arguments. It was not till later in his life, after they had gone their own ways that he had begun to reexamine his beliefs. He had hoped that it had not been too late to repair his relationship with his sister when they had begun those early, cautious communications. When she had agreed to have dinner that day before she left on this mission, it was a great step in the right direction, but he knew that she was still hurt and while they had left with hugs and a good feeling, the rift was still there. Now he feared that rift. What if she needed them? What if what she needed was support from her siblings but would be unable to reach them? His parents worked in tandem with the power when they needed extra support. Would Vala need him and Hanna?

From the corner of his eye, Krios saw Hanna rise and walk away from the group. She moved slowly, eyes downcast and unfocused. Her only indication she was aware of her surroundings happened when she first began to leave. Ron had moved to go with her, but she put her hand on his shoulder and whispered for him to stay. Past the house and the flower gardens that ringed it she walked, continuing down the path leading to the shuttle landings and further to the clearing beyond where the statue of her parents stood. The statue, solid stone from one of Rannoch's quarries, displayed John and Tali Shepard as they stood in defiance of Cerberus years ago. Scaled up twice the size of her actual parents, they towered over the high desert landscape. Hanna paid it no more mind than she had anything else as she walked. Standing next to the statue's base, she could see in one direction the high desert that she had played in as a child. Rocks of reds, yellows and browns in striated colors rose in the random formations, often with straggly brush and trees emerging from crevices, fighting for life. In another direction, she could see the Val'Shan valley. Lush, fertile fields that were the lifeblood of her people, and the great capital city of Val'Shan in the middle, the heart. Swinging her gaze, brought the great sea, Ril Azhana to view in the distance. Memories of sailing on those waters as a child with her family rushed through her mind. Those early years before the power, before everything began to fall apart. When Vala was her twin sister and they were the same.

Memories of her childhood flooded Hanna's mind. Her and Vala playing with toys on the porch of the house, swimming in the pool, tending flowers in the gardens with their mom, playing hide and seek with Krios, teasing him and tormenting him as only older sister could. The love they had for each other had been second only to the love their parents had for them. They had been happy. A house full of laughter and smiles. Even when they were sad, or got into trouble, which was frequent she admitted, they did not remain upset for long. Her mom and dad had been quick to forgive, if not to forget, and while they had made sure she and her siblings learned their lessons, they were not overly stern, unless the situation called for an extreme response.

It had all changed that day in London. Unconsciously, Hanna moved her hand to rub her shoulder where she had been shot. Even now, nearly twenty years later it still pained her sometimes. Her hip as well where a second shot had taken her. Her memories from that day were foggy. Random images of her father's face in shock, flashes of the park as she was carried to safety, a strange sensation of the power flooding though her body as her mother had tried to heal her and intense heat mixed with the sounds of screams. Her mind had been too stunned to process all that was happening when it happened and it was only through years of therapy and talking to others that were there that she now had a grasp on what all had took place. As a child though, she had simply been scared.

Pain. Death. Terror. That was what she had come to associate the power with. All power. Regardless if it was what her family wielded, biotics or other, she had come to distrust it. Fear it. While she trusted Kris, loved her as an aunt, she had seen vids of what Kris had done that day, and admitted to harboring a certain level of distrust and fear about her biotics. Now she had learned that Vala was even more powerful. That she was imbued with power that could rival creation itself. She shuddered at the thought.

For the last few years Krios had been trying to get her to talk with Vala and end the animosity. She had tried a few times with some success. She loved her sister, cared about her, but she hated the power and no matter how hard she tried to put it aside, the power was always there. Hanna had fought her way to her position. Nothing but hard work, sacrifice and dedication had brought her to where she was today. She did not have the power to boost her abilities or make her stand out. She had only herself and she was good. Yet, every command, every assignment and everyone she encountered asked about Vala. In school, it was because Vala was the weird sister. The loner, the one the other kids avoided and made fun of. That was not the attention Hanna wanted so she paid it no mind. Once they had both enlisted though, it became different. Suddenly they were competitors in a highly competitive environment. The one bright spot was that they had gone separate ways with Vala signing up under the Alliance medical program while Hanna went into the Quarian marines.

Hanna's advancement through the Quarian military had been fast and well deserved. She earned top marks in all her classes as well as the loyalty of her fellow marines. None of it was easy. She refused to take easy routes, often setting herself up to fail by choosing options that were considered no-win situations. It was not unusual for her to win anyway. Many of her instructors called her stubborn and headstrong, but none would deny her determination or skill nor her intelligence. She was also an excellent teacher, mentor, and partner, taking time to ensure that those she worked with understood what they were doing, be it a tactical maneuver or a ball game. She was a leader, a teacher, and a friend. She was tough on those around her, but she was respectful of them also.

She had grown into her own person. Someone she was proud of. Someone those around her were proud of. A name that was known not as the daughter of the famous John and Tali Shepard, but as "that badass Quarian". She was an exemplary marine, a proud member of the Quarian military. Yet, no matter what she did, Vala was always there. Every time Hanna had reached a new achievement, a new rank, received an award, Vala was not far behind. An entire galaxy worth of space between them could not separate their intertwined fates.

It was infuriating to Hanna that she could not escape Vala. No, they were not directly competing against each other. Their chosen paths in military life, in addition to the fact that they served in entirely separate militaries, ensured that they were never in direct competition for advancement, assignment or recognition. Yet, to Hanna at least, she felt as though Vala was always there and always just a step ahead. When she had made Lieutenant, she had called home to tell her mom and dad. They told her that Vala had also been promoted. After an award ceremony where she had received the Quarian Navy's medal for heroism when she had led her squad to safety after being shot down on a planet controlled by a Batarian slaver cell, she found herself watching another ceremony where an Asari diplomat was thanking the Retrievers for their timely rescue of her and her family. Front and center was Vala and a Drell woman receiving distinguished service medals by that diplomat. Her animosity grew deeper with each passing year. Then Krios stepped in.

Her younger brother had mostly been on Hanna's side after the London incident. He had been injured though not nearly as bad as she herself had, taking mostly superficial injuries. Krios had become scared of the power as she had, and she used that fear to her advantage. Having learned where Vala and Angela would sneak off too and that Vala would play with her power there, she waited till an opportunity presented itself. On a day when Vala was especially upset, Hanna had grabbed Krios and they silently followed Vala to her cove. Hiding in the bushes, they watched wide-eyed and open mouthed as Vala hurled bolts of power from her hands, yelling in rage and frustration. The energy in the bolts left scorch marks on the grass and sand, caused steam to rise on the water's surface then exploded in showers in water and light as it impacted the sea. Angela was there as well. She would toss rocks high into the air over the sea where Vala would blast them into sand. They watched as Vala did this again, and again, and again, till Angela ran out of rocks and Vala's voice grew hoarse from screaming. Hanna looked at Krios and saw in his eyes, terror. That was she had needed. From then on, Krios' loyalty was hers. Hanna would protect him from Vala. Vala would be outcast from her siblings.

After she had left for the marines, that grip had weakened. Truthfully, it had begun to slip years before. As Krios grew up, he began to think for himself and see things with opened eyes. John and Tali Shepard did not raise fools for children. Hanna knew that what she had done with Krios and Vala's relationship had been wrong. Part of her was happy to hear they were reconciling but every time Krios talked to her about it, she clamed up again and the old anger returned. She was not ready. Then came the aliens. A once in a lifetime opportunity. The assignment to make first contact with a new species. She had been hopeful she would be considered. Vala got it. Not only did she get the assignment but also the promotion and position as chief medical officer, one of the most powerful positions on a ship. She had been furious. Refused to talk to anyone about her sister, or even the mission till after they had departed. She had cooled eventually, professionalism taking over personal attitudes and as the months went by with Vala beyond communication, Hanna returned to herself.

Now it was happening again. Her life had been wonderful these past couple of years. She had married a man that she loved more than she thought she was capable of. Reached new personal and professional goals, was up for promotion to full Commander and rumor was she may be getting her first ship command with that promotion. She was nearing the peak of the mountain she had spent her life climbing, but instead of people talking about her, Vala was again front and center. This time she was being compared to a god and Hanna was a side note.

Hanna clenched her fists, felt her body become tense, tilted her head back and screamed. A raw, near animalistic howl of emotion poured from her mouth. Every fiber in her body adding to the intensity. Her back arched as the sound intensified, hair tumbling free from the bun she had pinned it in to hang loose towards the ground. The scream came to an end and Hanna straightened then dropped to a crouch. She released her boots, kicking them free to stand bare footed on the rocky soil. She flexed her toes, the claws extending and digging furrows into the dirt. Without looking at the group of people watching her, she sprang forward into a sprint, dust and small rocks flying from under her feet as they pushed against the ground and quickly disappeared behind rick formations in the distance.

Ron Earp, Hanna's husband had been watching from the distance with his in-laws. He was torn between wanting to go to her side to be there and comfort her and knowing that she needed her space. When she let loose that scream, he had leapt forward only to be restrained by John. He struggled against his father-in-law for a minute till John's glowing blue eyes met his own. Suddenly he understood. Calming his own mind, he felt for his bond with Hanna. It was still a weird sensation for him, one he was not certain he would grow used to, but he loved his wife and that was what mattered. He felt her turmoil instantly and could sense that she wanted to be alone. Sighing, he let the connection go and nodded to John. The older man gave him a sad smile in return before putting his arm around his shoulder and guiding him to a chair with the others. Hanna had to work this out on her own. They would be here when she was ready.

Hanna's powerful legs carried her across the Rannoch surface with incredible speed. Running had always been her way of unwinding. She loved the feeling, the rhythmic breathing, muscles working to move her legs in long strides that ate up the miles of rocky landscape and the quiet solitude of going places where no others ventured. Her whole life she had explored Rannoch far beyond the edges of civilization. She loved discovering places that most Quarians had never seen, finding the ruins of long lost Quarian settlements from before their exile or natural wonders that were not on the map. The Quarians had not spread fast with most choosing to stay within a small radius of the new major cities and even more choosing to remain as spacers or colonists, resettling old outposts throughout the reclaimed Quarian space.

Today she ran not thinking about any of that. The landscape flew past her, mile after mile blurring past unnoticed. She ran directionless, just moving to clear her thoughts. Hours passed and the miles fell away. It was not until the sun began to set that she finally came to halt. She had been running along a river, far to the East of the Solom Azhana. If it had a name, she did not know it. The river was barely large enough to deserve that name in her opinion until these last two miles where it suddenly began to widen and increase in volume as many other small tributaries merged together, rushing over the rocks in white water rapids to the edge of the cliff she had now stopped upon. There, the waters tumbled down a fifty-foot drop into a pool, churning and rolling ever deeper before swirling away to flow ever calmer down a twisting stream into through the hidden valley below.

The valley truly was hidden she observed. Narrow, only a couple miles across, the upper rim was crowned with rugged and sharp, impassable peaks of brown and grey rocks covered in the twisted, thorny bushes that grew wild on the upper desert. Where she stood, the river provided plenty of water and a forest had grown wild on both sides of the river creating a beltway of wooded land that screened the waterfall's entrance to the valley. The only entrance she could see. The two arms of the mountains stretched far into the distance till they formed a bowl around a small lake. The valley floor was a mixture of forests and fields grown wild and random as nature selected. The site took her breath away with its beauty.

She sat upon a rock, legs dangling over the edge next to the waterfall where the mists coated her skin in a refreshing coat of cold water. There she watched the evening shadows lengthen in the valley below, the mountains causing dusk to settle hours earlier than it would on the high desert. With deep breaths, she relaxed and silently let the day flow away. Quiet, peaceful, and alone. It had been some time since she had been able to get away like this. She made a note to try to do so more often.

Movement on the valley floor below caught her eye. Squinting into the shadows below, she saw an animal moving towards the edge of the pool at the base of the waterfall. It walked on four legs, long a lean, moving with a powerful grace of a hunter, dark fur making it one with the deepening shadows. She had never seen this animal before. Interest peaked, she swung her legs up onto the ledge, spun around, and extended her head and shoulders over the side. Her movement sent loose rocks tumbling down the rocky cliff face, noisy but drowned out by the roar of the waterfall. At least she thought it was. The creature at the pool whipped its head to stare directly at her and they both froze. Hanna's eyes were wide, and she uttered just one word, "Keelah!"


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6. **

_New Horizons' _cargo bay was barely recognizable. The walls and ceiling displayed bed linens that had been modified to make colored streamers and drapes bringing an air of festivity to the normally plain room. The usual scattering of crates and workstations had been cleared and stowed, and in their place were tables and chairs set up in a "u" shape around a cleared section of deck. In that space stood the assembled crew, in dress uniforms standing in formation and eyes forward. At the opening of the "u" was a raised platform and it was upon that platform that all eyes now watched. Admiral Samantha Thibodaux in her own dress uniform, pressed black cloth, gleaming gold piping and a chest full of medals stood presiding over a most unusual ceremony. A first in her career.

Before her, one to each side were Fendala and Mavish. They stood facing each other holding hands, fur cleaned, brushed, and trimmed. He wore a modified dress uniform, tailored to fit his smaller statue, bearing commander's _epaulettes_ on his shoulders marking him as an official military officer. She wore a simple white dress, embroidered with vines and flowers. It had been made from spare materials and sewn by the other women on the ship and given as a gift for the occasion. Her dark red mane of hair that ran the length of her body was braided with colored ribbons as was her tail which was as usual, wrapped around her waist forming a colorful belt over the white dress. Both wore expressions of happiness and love, eyes bright and shining, and mouths stretched wide in smiles.

"By the power vested in me as the commanding officer of the _New Horizons_, I now pronounce you married." Samantha ended the ceremony and the two LiThar leaned in and kissed. The assembled crew broke into load applause and cheers. Breaking the kiss, Mavish swept Fendala up in his arms, hopped off the stage and carried her to their waiting table. The crew parted to form a corridor for the newlywed couple to walk. Reaching the table, Mavish gently lowered her into the waiting chair before taking his own at Fendala's side. The crew broke up and took their own seats at the other tables, the senior officers taking places next to the couple at the head table and the mess crew emerged to begin serving dinner.

Nearly a year had passed since Vala had told them that they needed to go to OniThar. A lot had happened within the confines of the ship during those months. Good and bad. The crew had evolved in many ways and this was one of the results. While learning about their new allies, Fendala had become fascinated with the various mating and marriage customs that were presented. Her and Mavish being a couple had become well known to all within days of their first encounter, and after a few weeks, both had given up trying to keep it secret and came out to all. It was the first time that a LiThar couple had been celebrated in living memory. That open freedom of relationships was completely alien to the LiThar as they had always been forced to keep those details as secret as possible to prevent Akzunatai and those loyal to him to use it against them. Fendala began to question how relationships were celebrated in her new friends' societies. This eventually led to the discussion of mating rituals, bonding, marriage, and a host of other inquiries about relationship customs.

Fendala fell in love with the idea of marriage and the ceremonies associated with it. If she were to lead the LiThar forward to a new future, she wanted to do so by example. The entire crew leapt at the opportunity to celebrate a wedding and the fact that this was an historical moment made it even more special. Choosing to hold it when they were out of dark space and in range of OniThar, the _New Horizons_ began their preparations. Being so far from home and on limited resources, creativity became the only mode of operation. Everyone donated what they could, and decorations soon were ready to be hung. The cooks broke out the special reserves of food and drink, items that were being saved for special occasions, and planned a small feast. Ship maintenance was doubled to allow for as many crew members as possible to attend. Those who could not be spared, would watch through the monitors and the ceremony was set to take place with part in one shift and part in the next to allow for all to participate at lease for a portion of it.

This wedding had become a source of pride, excitement and to many, the light at the end of the tunnel. Their time in dark space was wearing them down. Knowing that they were not going home, but instead further out and to battle had sowed the seeds of depression in many. Now they had been given a breath of fresh air. Something joyous to look forward to. A celebration of life.

Dinner was served. Delicious scents flooded the bay and soon mouths were full of savory flavors. Tastebuds that had gone numb with the same bland tastes of rations were awakened with rich tastes of favorite foods. Wine, beer and whiskeys were provided along with the food, not enough to allow for anyone to become inebriated, but enough to allow stress to fall off of shoulders, laughter to ring out and even the worst dancers stop caring to go out on the dance floor after the meal wrapped up.

Fendala and Mavish were not the only couple abord. Over the months, more couples had come out. Some had broken up since, others still together. Samantha and Lin Verel had given the emerging situation a lot of thought. Typically, there were no regulations against relationships other than those of superior and subordinate. Back home, if a situation developed that impacted the crew negatively, a Captain could dismiss the offenders easily with transfers to another ship or planet. That option was not available to deep space missions and they did not get much deeper into space than this one. Ultimately their decision came down to the fact that nothing they did would stop relationships from forming. If they banned them, it would simply drive those involved to secrecy potentially creating more problems than it would prevent. A compromise was reached. They would allow personal relationships; however, public displays of affection were not to take place. This was a military ship and protocol would be observed in that respect. They had called a meeting and informed the crew. To date, it had been largely successful. A few minor incidents, but overall, the results had been positive for morale.

Still, this was the first marriage ceremony she had performed. Vala and Angela had considered it, but Sam refused until Kris, John and Tali could be there. The girls had been on the fence about it for the same reasons and quickly accepted Sam's terms. Other couples were mainly holding off for similar reasons. They wanted their families there. Nelis had spoken out that weddings were mostly for families anyway. She knew where her heart lay and who had her love. That was all that mattered to her. When they got back, they could celebrate and make it legal, but in her heart, she was wed already. Both Meela and Robert had taken her hands at that statement and nodded in agreement. Sam still had some difficulty wrapping her head around that relationship.

Nelis Bevn and Meela Lind had started a friendly rivalry the day they met, the same they were assigned to Lexandrius' team. Constantly trying to outshine the other, the Drell girl and the Asari, both striving to be the best, their friendship blossomed quickly. Robert Johnson, the young human marine who Admiral Thibodaux had embarrassed in the gym, was equally competitive and it did not take long for the three of them to find common ground, respect, and appreciation for one another's skills. That respect led to a deep friendship as the three constantly worked together, pushing each other to reach the next level, and while to an outsider, their relationship appeared to be one of rivalry and hostility, they were becoming closer and closer daily.

That friendship had been put to a test one day when both Meela and Nelis had asked Robert on a date. Neither had talked to the other about those plans, and when word reached the other what had happened, the immediate reaction was predictable. They fought. Their fellow teammates tried to break them up but were quickly discouraged after a few punches were taken. Lexandrius had entered the gym and reacted instantly knocking both girls on their asses and before sending them to medical for treatment to their injuries and promising further punishment upon their return. After they had been cleared for duty, he had them assigned to cleaning the ship's wastewater reclaim system for the next two weeks. Those weeks restored their friendship as they worked through their feelings about Robert and each other. When they returned to regular duty, the young human marine never stood a chance and _New Horizons_ gained their only thruple.

The other LiThar couple, Shethra and Thera watched all the proceedings with great interest. From the planning, to the decorations, clothing, and food to the words spoken and the dancing that followed. They had been asked if they wanted to get married as well, but they wanted this to be special and singularly for their friends. This was for Fendala and Mavish. Let them have it. Still, they liked what they saw and made a promise to each other that they would do the same one day. Maybe they would be the first LiThar to get married on OniThar where they could show just how special it was and lead the way for their people to follow.

Winding her way through the celebrating crew, Diana Allers made sure her cameras captured the day, leaving no detail out. Her cameras were V.I. assisted units that zoomed around the room covering every angle to ensure nothing went unnoticed with the exception of two units that hovered around her at all times, capturing instantly anything she directed and readily available for split second interviews. Using them the reporter had amassed an incredible collection of footage of the journey thus far. Observational footage and one on one interviews with both the original crew and the LiThar were enhanced with written documentation to create one of the most detailed journals in existence. Several of her reports, abridged to save data space yet still extremely informative, had been sent to the Council as part of their report packages. Both commanding officers agreed that her presentation of the LiThar were far better than anything they had written and would be of greater use to the Council. Diana was already a galaxy-wide famous reported, not only for her work abord the Normandy during the Reaper war, but also for works done both before and since those historical days.

This mission however was to be her crowning achievement and her final report. She was sixty-four years old this year and the way things were going, she anticipated being much closer to seventy by the time she returned home. Granted, human life spans averaged close to one hundred and sixty with some outliers closing in on a second century, but as much as she loved her job, she wanted to spend more time with her wife Liara and their family. She and Liara had discussed it and when this fight was over, they would retire somewhere and live their lives as they wanted. They had even discussed having more children. After a long a successful career, Diana was ready for a change.

Tonight, her mind was not on the future, but like most there, she was simply enjoying the party. Linking arms with two male crew members who were standing shyly to the side, she pulled them onto the dance floor and began to move in time with the music. The poor men she had dragged with her began their own awkward movements, slowly realizing that no one was paying much attention to how bad of dancers they were, and gradually let themselves relax and simply enjoy the dance. Diana smiled at them encouragingly and the last of their embarrassment faded.

Long did the celebration last. The shifts changed with those who had duty swapping with those coming off. With those new arrivals, the celebration got a second wind. Vala found herself spinning in Angela's arms as they once again danced across the bay floor. Both girls had their hair done up in ribbons to match those in Fendala's. They had been her bridal party, making sure the day went perfect. They had succeeded and now they celebrated. Round and round they spun, feet moving in time with the music, they glided across the floor, reveling in the joy of their friends and crewmates and the unrestrained happiness of the newly married couple. _This is why we fight. This is why we sacrifice._ The words came unbidden to Vala's mind, yet she admitted their truth.

_This is love sweetheart. _Angela's answering response was spoken inside their minds. Their linked connection allowing them to share these communications silently. Vala's eyes met Angela's and the two women smiled, then kissed. Angela stepped back, extended her arm and twirled Vala so the Quarian woman ended up back pressed against Angela's front and wrapped in the woman's arms. Laughing loudly, Vala's face shone with happiness surpassed only by the LiThar couple dancing across the room from them. They were flying directly towards danger. It was growing closer every day and they all knew that it would get far harder before their mission was over. For today though, none of it mattered. Today they laughed and loved and celebrated.

The current song came to an end and Samantha excused herself from the dance floor. Grabbing a glass of water, she made her way to the raised platform where Lin Verel and Reilus Lexandrius were standing watching the others. They were the senior most officers on the vessel. This was there family and those celebrating were as their children. Both men gave her a friendly nod as she arrived. "Good to see you letting yourself have fun Sam." Reilus spoke as she raised herself to sit on the edge of the platform. "You need to learn to do that more often."

"We all do Reilus." Came her reply. "It is hard though. I'm glad we did this. It helps remind us all why we are doing this. What it is we are fighting for."

"Very true Admiral." Lin Verel joined in. "After seeing what is headed towards home, I know a lot of the crew were not in a good frame of mind. This helps free them of that depression. At least for a time."

Sam nodded her agreement. A month after they had sent their message back home, their scanners picked up Akzunatai's approaching fleet. Fortunately, while dark space is, as far as they knew, uninhabited, it was not empty. Large rocks, were often found drifting free in the void, escaped from some galaxy to drift aimlessly. Luck must have smiled on them that day as they located one of these large rocks and placed their vessel behind it. Powering down to life supporting essentials only, the ship went dark and waited. A few days later, the single largest fleet they had ever seen flew past them.

Hundreds of thousands of vessels, small and large, of all shapes and designs paraded past them. Too far for them to see visually, even had a giant rock not been blocking the windows, but well within sensor range. Operating on low power, they were only able to get the most basic of scans, but those were enough to give them an idea of what was headed towards their homes. It had taken more than a day for the fleet to pass and they waited till three more had gone by before powering up and continuing towards OniThar with all the speed they could muster.

Deciding it was too risky to try to send a message, fear of interception and giving away their position being the key factors, they instead focused their energy into reaching their destination with all possible haste. It had still taken more than ten additional months to get here with more weeks to go. They were nearing the end of this stage of their journey. Soon they would begin in earnest to plan their moves on OniThar. Those were problems for tomorrow. Tonight, was time to relax.

Neela Voln, their Asari ambassador appeared at Samantha's side and handed her a drink of alcohol spiked punch which Sam took reluctantly. "Drink up Admiral. The boys are on duty in the morning and you deserve to indulge a little tonight." She lifted her glass in toast to the room in general before taking a long swallow of the cool liquid. Sam sighed but followed suit and drained her glass. Voln laughed and placing her empty glass on the raised platform, she grabbed Verel's hand and pulled him to the dance floor. "Come on Captain. I believe it is your duty to share a dance with your ambassador." Laughing the two of them whirled away into the crowd, finding their rhythm, and joining in the mass of gyrating bodies.

"What about you Commander?" Sam questioned the tall Turian. "Do you dance?"

In a graceful bow that surprised Sam, Lexandrius held out his hand and replied. "Of course, ma'am. Would you care to have this dance?" Sam placed her hand in his and giggled as he straightened and led them to the floor to join their companions.

The council chambers on the Citadel somehow always seemed to convey an atmosphere of solemnity which Miranda supposed was both appropriate and the point, yet she could not help but wish for some splashes of color among all the metallic greys and silver. Some flowers or drapes with colors, a rug, anything to bring some life into the plain room.

Miranda paused in her thoughts and chuckled silently. Where had those thoughts come from? She really had changed over the years. She tried to think back to the woman she had been before everything had changed. Before she was an Admiral and Liaison to the Council for the Shepard Academy. Before she was married and had children. Before the Reapers. Before Shepard. Her old life seemed alien to her now as if it were something she had observed.

At sixty-eight years old, outwardly she was the same woman. Her genetic engineering held off many of the normal ravages of time. They would happen eventually, but she still likely had another sixty-eight years to go before she would start seeing those changes. Tall and fit, a body designed to be perfect, topped with a head of luxurious dark brown hair framing a soft, gently rounded face and two light grey eyes that seemed to pierce into whomever she looked at. If she slipped into an old Cerberus uniform, she would exactly as she had over thirty years earlier when she led the Lazarus team to resurrect Shepard.

Inward, nothing was the same. Her wants and desires, beliefs and priorities were all different. She was different. Shepard had shown her a new way, a better way and started her on a path to a better life. She owed him everything, but he was not the only one to save her. Her sister Oriana, her wife Felicia Hannigan, her children Michael, and Kelley and all her friends from the Normandy and those she had made since. She had even come to accept that she too was responsible for the changes. All these others had helped in their ways, but it was ultimately she who listened and acted. It was Miranda who had wanted the changes. It was she who acted and she who made the changes. She was proud of who she had become, but no longer thought of herself as superior. She knew that her success was a group effort and that realization both humbled her and gave her strength.

"Admiral Hannigan, please if you would, begin your presentation on the approaching force." Lanus Victus, the Turian Councilor spoke and the low buzzing hum of conversation that had filled the chamber faded as the dozens of galactic leaders and hundreds of Citadel civilians dropped their individual conversations to listen to the report. Miranda rose from her chair at the council table and began to speak.

"Three days ago, Observation Station Alpha reported a sudden increase in movement at the edge of their sensors. The next day, they confirmed dozens of individual ship signatures and yesterday there were hundreds. This morning, I received an update confirming that the invasion force we have been preparing for had indeed arrived. The numbers are yet to be confirmed, but early reports are already nearing one hundred thousand individual ship signatures. If even a quarter of those are carrier ships loaded with short range fighters as ours, we could easily be looking at millions of attack vessels racing towards our borders. At the current speeds they are travelling, the STG unit on OS Alpha estimates that the full force will be upon them in two weeks.

Following our instructions, they have begun evacuation protocols as they are in the direct path of the approaching fleet. They will back up all the data the station has collected and then destroy the computers so nothing can be accessed by the enemy. The station will be powered down and abandoned. Knowing that this would likely need to happen, the Geth have built additional stations that have been scattered around the galaxy's perimeter. Some of these are already active and will take over for Alpha once it has gone offline. Others are on standby. The plan is to move these around behind Akzunatai's forces to reestablish communications with the _New Horizons_.

Communications with our people on OniThar is critical. As such, those stations are being deployed with the best and most powerful communications arrays we have. It has been a joint effort to build them and I thank everyone who has put in the time. These new relays should allow us to communicate with them with minimal delays, reducing our wait time down to hours. No, it will not allow for us to help in any meaningful way, but it will allow us to know when they succeed in their mission. That success determines when we can throw our full might into defeating Akzunatai. Until we know that they have cut him from his power, we are on a defensive delay tactic. We buy them time and try to stay alive."

"Do we have any idea of what types of forces he plans to deploy?" Victus asked. To help streamline the briefing it was determined that he would be the sole person to ask questions for the Council. During Miranda's briefing, the others would send him questions which he would sort and ask.

"We can only speculate on that based on information the LiThar shared with us concerning his past conquests. In short, it does not matter. Our strategy is the same due to statistics. We simply do not have enough ships to go against him in a prolonged space battle. Post Reaper War, all our major fleets had been decimated. While the Turians and Alliance have rebuilt a substantial force, the Quarians and Geth, who previously had the other largest fleets, have reduced their military numbers. In the Quarian's case, a large portion of their fleet were civilian ships retrofitted for the war against the Geth. They had been in violation of Council law regarding dreadnaughts and so dismantled them after the Reapers were defeated. The Geth reduced their forces as a gesture of peace with the galaxy. What we have today, while still considerable, will not be enough to win a space battle.

Instead, we will force them to a ground fight. Rannoch is their target, so it is Rannoch where we will meet them in force. The Alliance and Turians will join the Quarians and Geth to harass and delay as best they can. Once that is no longer viable, they will have to switch to forcing them down to Rannoch where we will meet them. It is on the surface that we may have the advantage. All the council races have large standing armies, with the Krogan being at the forefront. Using Krogan muscle as our backbone, Asari for shielding and the Elcor as artillery, the other races can supplement their soldiers to the fight, and we stand a chance.

The Salarian STG teams and the Drell Special Forces will be our mobile units. Neither have the numbers needed for a standup fight however, they do have the skills to strike from the flanks and rear, at the very least providing distractions, but with some luck, they will be able to hit critical points in Akzunatai's forces. Supply lines, officers, command. Those are their targets.

Once, the enemy is on Rannoch, most of our fleet will join and boost the ground forces. The fighter squadrons will switch command to the Shepard Academy and join the fighters from there for aerial support. How many and how quickly that transition happens depends on what Akzunatai does. If he chooses to stay in space, our options become limited. Rannoch is well fortified but fighting ground to space is difficult at best. We must force Akzunatai to land his troops. That is key."

Questions from the assembled military leaders began to pour in. Lanus Victus and Cadall Baerallo did their best to answer with details and reassure doubt, yet neither their expertise in military strategy nor in diplomatic leadership could calm the unrest that was building. Those gathered wanted more. Needed more. Many were veterans of the Reaper War, several of the Krogan and Asari could date their experiences to wars that were over long before Miranda had been born. Hundreds of years of experience challenged and questioned what they were being told. For every question, the council answered, two more developed.

Miranda looked around the chamber and reassessed what she was witnessing. She knew many of those present and the rest she at least knew of them. These were not people who were in the dark, ignorant, or blind to the facts. They knew the situation, or at least as much as anyone did perhaps outside of the crew on the _New Horizons._ They also understood in any conflict you can only plan so far as your intelligence allows and even with the best intelligence, it is still mostly guess-work. Too many variables and changing circumstances prevented any plan from being perfect. This war would start with more unknowns than the Reaper War sixty years past.

That was when she realized what was happening. She cleared her mind of the turmoil of dozens of loud voices, shouting to be heard, arguing and on the verge of fighting and began to filter the noise. Beneath it all lay notes of fear. Voices yelling in frustration, trembled. Angry shouts masked the cracking voices of cries. She scanned individual faces instead of the blur of the crowd. Pale skin and wide eyes were everywhere. Several held stomachs and as if sick, others attempted to wipe tears from eyes that could not be stopped. They were afraid.

Miranda knew how they felt. In her mind, she was suddenly standing abord the Normandy listening to Commander Shepard tell them they were going on a suicide mission through the Omega Four relay. They had no way of knowing what waited for them, or how they were to accomplish their goal. At that time, they did not even know how they would pass through a relay from which no ship had returned that was not a Collector vessel. She too had been terrified. True, she had hidden it well, as did all aboard the Normandy, but in the privacy of her quarters, she had broken. Many sleepless nights she had lain awake, worrying, crying, screaming silently in frustration. She had done in private the same things these people were doing today.

It had taken one man to eradicate those fears from her. It was not an army, not a plan, a weapon, or drugs. One man. Someone who had stood in front of them all with confidence and honesty. Someone to provide a leaning post for his people. Someone to take away their fears and make them his own. John Shepard had done that for his team. Despite all those questions, all the doubt and uncertainty, opposition from even his own people, John Shepard had stood tall that day, spoke the truth. He had conveyed a confidence that inspired hope, and erased doubt. His words were not sugar coated, but real. He had taken their fear, their anxiety and doubt. Took it all and carried it himself, despite already harboring his own troubles. Miranda sighed. She wished John were here today.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Felicia. She had joined the audience seating to watch and was now barely visible as the crowd around her was largely on their feet in heated arguments, jostling and shifting as they strove to be recognized by the faltering council. Felicia had to contort her body to an uncomfortable angle to see around the group of Salarian STG agents who had joined in the general chaos. As Miranda's eyes found hers, she smiled, and Miranda could read the words on Felicia's lips: I love you. Three simple words that Miranda never tired of hearing. Miranda mouthed back the same. Felicia saw the love Miranda had for her, but also saw the doubt and uncertainty raging there. She knew what Miranda was struggling with internally. This was the moment she had both wanted and feared her entire life. Felicia knew that this was what Miranda's life was leading up to. Not what her father had wanted, perfection. No, this was bigger than that. Miranda was bigger than that. Felicia smiled at her wife and nodded.

A loud bang and a flash of light went off int eh chamber. The entire room fell silent instantly, many crouching to shield themselves and several biotic barriers could be seen suddenly surrounding groups of people. Civilians, military members, and the council all with shocked faces now stared directly at the source of the disturbance: Miranda. Admiral Miranda Hannigan stood tall in her dress uniform. The dark cloth trimmed in gold, admiral's insignia upon her shoulders and the left side of her chest covered in medals and ribbons, she appeared every inch a powerful, respected leader. Her right hand held in front of her a tiny ball of biotic energy, a biotic flashbang ready to be loosened again if the first did not achieve its purpose. She slowly rotated her gaze across the council and audience both, ensuring she had their undivided attention. Seeing that every eye was fixed firmly upon her, including the press and their cameras, she took a deep breath and began to speak.

"I know you are all worried. Scared. Uncertain. I know what we have given you is not much to go on. I know we are going into this war blind about our enemy. The situation is bad. At least as bad as the Reapers were." She paused for a moment. Those words were right, but not the right tone. The truth, facts were important, but so was talking to them as a friend. They had to be family. They had to believe that you cared about them, that you were in this with them. It was not enough to be a superior officer. You had to be a parent. Someone they looked to for answers and you had to deliver them, even when you did not know them. She knew what to say.

"The truth of the matter is that this fucking sucks. We are being drawn into a war that has nothing to do with us, we are simply caught in the middle. Once again, someone who thinks they can bully us into submission has come to our homes. Once again, we are told to submit or die by a being who wants to rule over us. To enslave us. To be worshipped as our god. Well, I have a response to a creature like that. Fuck you!

I know I am not alone in saying that I will never submit to slavery. Everyone in this room has fought against slavery, fought against injustice and those who would take advantage of others. We as a galactic community have vowed to help each other in keeping our freedoms and protecting those who cannot defend themselves. No, we have not always succeeded, nor is the system perfect, but we still try our best every day. Now, a new threat has arisen. At his core, Akzunatai is no different than any of tyrant we have faced before. Yes, he is powerful and commands a massive army, but we are not helpless. We are not weak. We are not alone."

Miranda knew that the next words she said were going to set policy and terms that had not yet fully been ratified. In one of Ambassador Voln's reports, she had informed them of Commander Mavish and Ambassador Fendala's agreement to an alliance with the council. As the LiThar did not have an official government, and Fendala's title was more assumption than official, the Council was uncertain as to if this would be accepted by the LiThar people. In addition, the Council was not certain on their side about an Alliance with a people they knew next to nothing about and whose home was in an entire other galaxy. The debate had rages with no consensus or even a clear majority reached. Time was up though for political debates. Miranda needed this alliance. The galaxy needed this alliance.

"The Council has accepted the LiThar people as an allied race. They have been granted a seat at the table. They have all the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities that we all share. They are of our galactic family and they are in trouble. After the Reaper War, we strengthened ourselves by staying united and instituting new laws to aid and protect one another so we would never be divided again. Today, our newest member is in desperate need and we will answer their call for aid so they will no longer be alone in this fight.

We have an advantage in this fight. We have troops behind enemy lines. The _New Horizons _is on a path to strike at the seat of Akzunatai's power. The LiThar are leading them to Akzunatai's base and it is there that they can break him and give us the opportunity to win. That is why we must do everything within our power to hold out as long as possible to give them time to succeed. Then we finish Akzunatai and destroy his army. There is not a maybe in this and no second chance. They_ will_ break Akzunatai and we _will_ stop his army. We did it once before against the Reapers. We will do it again against Akzunatai and anyone else who thinks they can take our home. We will not be enslaved or destroyed. We will fight! Fight for our families, our friends, our children, and our future. We will not go quietly into that good night. Stand strong, stand united and we will win!"

By the time Miranda had finished speaking, the entire room was on its feet. Shouts and cheers mixing with clapping and stomping of feet. The room vibrated and echoed with the noise of hundreds of people who had found renewed hope. Miranda was stunned and excited at the same time. Was this what John had felt? She had no idea if her words were getting through as she spoke them. She worried what the Council was thinking and surprised they had not told her to shut and sit down. The thunderous applause continued, and she remained confidently standing, looking back at the audience with a smile of assurance. She could see the tension lift in their body language; hear hope in the tone of the voices and the see eagerness for action in their eyes. She had stoked the fires of victory. Taken their fears and doubts and gave them hope in return. She had done what she had been shown to do all those years ago aboard the Normandy.

Miranda turned towards the council and met Victus' eyes. Next to the Turian, Matriarch Aethyta and the Salarian Councilor, Cadall Baerallo looked back at her with approval on their faces. Down the length of the table, more faces smiled at her in approval. Quarian, Krogan, and Drell all gave her smiles and nods. Even those species whose faces did not convey emotion either because they wore environmental suits such as the Volus Councilor or they were not a traditionally expressive species such as the Elcor, they still showed indications of approval in their own ways. Miranda knew that she had just placed herself in the head position. She had become their support, their guide. The entire galaxy would now look to her for leadership in the coming war. Her eyes met Felicia's once again. Silently she prayed that this was a dream, that she would wake up and it would be thirty minutes earlier and she would not have spoken. She would just be Admiral Hannigan, Liaison to the Shepard Academy, only there to deliver the latest in intelligence and coordinate the Academy's role in the coming conflict. Felicia's face beamed in pride however and Miranda knew this was not a dream. A surprising calmness rolled over her body and her mind stilled. Miranda knew what she had to do. She knew what came next and how to handle it. The rest, well, she would deal with the rest as it came. She was ready.

_Fuck you, John Shepard. _She spoke inside her head, not for the first time as she stood at the council table looking out at the cheering crowd. _Fuck you for doing this to me and thank you my friend._

James Vega watched as the last of the new anti-aircraft guns were secured on its turret. Forty-four of these monstrous guns ringed the Val'Shan Valley covering the city, academy, and farmland below. Each weapon could track, lock and fire on most targets sixty times in one minute, delivering rounds designed to disrupt shields and rip through the heavy armor of dreadnaughts, they were a ring of death protecting the Quarian capital. He grunted with satisfaction as the sound of the clamps fastening securely told him that the gun was set. The engineers would take over now to program the targeting systems and run it through the initial startup procedures before test firing. They were impressive weapons. Ones he was glad to be behind rather than in front of when the fighting started.

Walking away from the turret site, James was lost in his own thoughts. For years he had been trying to figure out what was bothering him. He was happy, had a great job, a wonderful family, and was a respected person both in the military and as a citizen of Rannoch and the galaxy in general. Still, despite all the good around him, he had constantly felt uncomfortable. Something was off, missing. He had talked to Kasumi about it several times with no solution, but he had learned he was not alone in his thoughts. She admitted to having similar feelings.

Entering their home, James pulled off his uniform and replaced it with jeans and a t-shirt. Walking down the hall from his bedroom, he stopped to look at the family photos on the wall. Pictures of his and Kasumi's childhood and families, then together on the Normandy with their friends. Promotion and award ceremonies, their wedding, and dozens of photos of their girls in various ages. At last he came to the most recent of the four Vegas together at the Shepard's a few months ago. They had been celebrating Bella's graduation and acceptance to the Rannoch College school for Marine Biology, a new program started by a few Asari scientists who had taken and interest in the oceanic life on the Quarian home world. In the picture, James had one arm around Kasumi and the other around Bella in her graduation cap and gown. Katie stood next to her sister, their heads leaning against each other and both smiling bright. Tali had taken the picture. They were all so happy. He had been filled with pride for his daughter. That night though, the uneasiness that he had been feeling increased.

Leaving the pictures behind, he wondered outside to the grill, filled it with charcoal and struck a match. Flames leapt from the black bricks and he felt the heat of those flames as they burned. The sound of the front door opening and closing told him Kasumi was home and a minute later, she stepped from the kitchen to the back patio, where she kissed her husband before handing him a beer she had grabbed from the fridge. James took a drink, letting the cold, refreshing liquid flow into him. That was when he noticed Kasumi was carrying a data pad. "Hey babe. Thanks for the cerveza. What is on the pad?"

Kasumi looked at the pad in her hand then back up at her husband with a sad smile on her face and eyes slightly moist with the threat of tears. James, not blind to his wife's emotions saw her face and immediately took her in his arms, hugging and guiding her to the nearby chairs. "What is it Kas? What does it say?"

"I got it right before I left my office." She began slowly at first, then the words tumbled out of her mouth. "My uncle, Itsuki Goto died a couple of months ago. They found his will and apparently he left me the family estate."

"Mi cielo, I'm sorry to hear. What took them so long to notify you? Its not like we are hard to find." James held her tight in his arms for a minute before relaxing to let her answer.

"They did not know I was his niece until recently." Kasumi replied and then saw that James would need some further explaining. "Uncle Itsuki was my last living relative and the last of the Goto family as his brothers and sisters have all died years ago. Many of the Gotos were killed by the Reapers with only he and me surviving. I had not thought of him in years to be honest.

He was reclusive to the estate his entire life. It was rather easy for him to do so as our estate is an island of the Japanese coast that until the invention of sky cars, was only accessible by boat. I spent a lot of my childhood growing up there. It is a beautiful place James, or at least it was. I do not know if it still is, but when you are there, it is as though you were transported back centuries to rural Japan. Isolated from the world, only minimal technology was allowed to be established there. In fact, only one room in the entire house has electricity. It is there that the phone and computer are kept, but rarely used. We used candles and lamps to see at night, and it was worth it. The stars! Nowhere else on Earth could you see such clear, expansive stars! It was looking up at those stars from the gardens on that rock that I knew I wanted to leave Earth one day to see the galaxy. I knew my future was up in that void and that one day I would go find it." Kasumi took James' hands in hers and looked him in the eyes. Love shone from her narrow eyes to meet the same from his own. "It took me a few years, but I found it. I found you and we have those girls."

James leaned forward and kissed Kasumi again. He knew there was a "but" coming and he was beginning to think he knew what it was. He also was beginning to think, he wanted it too.

"For a couple of years, you and I have been talking about feeling uneasy, as though it may be time for something new, something different. Now, I may have that. With Uncle Itsuki passing the Goto estate to me, I now own a private island in the Pacific Ocean on Earth. Maybe, we could retire and move there? The girls are grown. Katie is happy in her teaching job and I expect that a wedding may soon be in order if things continue to go well. Now that Bella has moved out to go to school, we could seriously think about going somewhere else. I don't know if this is the solution, but I think I want to try."

Kasumi looked at James trying to discern what he was thinking. She believed that he would go along with her idea, if for no other reason than to make her happy, but she wanted this to make him happy also. If they were to make this kind of change, she wanted it to be what they both wanted. She had another reason as well, but she wanted to see how he reacted to this first.

James first thought she was crazy to think of moving to Earth. They had their lives here, their family, their jobs, but the longer he let the words roll in his head, the more they sounded right. Retirement. A word he was once certain he would never consider now spoke to his heart as the most wonderful thing he could imagine. No more military. No more fighting. Just spending time with his wife, making love, and enjoying time together. Fishing, and grilling afterwards. Sipping beer while sitting on a beach watching the sunset. Visiting their daughters and perhaps even future grandchildren. Yes, he was ready. Just one thing had to be finished first.

"Once this war is done. Once Akzunatai is no longer a threat, I'm ready to retire. Kas, I think that is what has been wrong. It is time for the next chapter of my life and do not think the Alliance has a role in it. I want to spend it with you. We can do what we want, when and how we want to do it. If you want to go to your family's home, well that sounds great to me. I love Rannoch, but I do miss Earth. I just wish the girls were not grown. It would have been nice to have had more time to spend with them."

Kasumi had watched James as he spoke. She saw the sincerity in his eyes. Hope rekindle along with a desire for life once more. She felt it also. "Well, babe." She responded. "I have a bit of more good news for you then." James tilted his head questioning. "We are going to have another child. I'm pregnant."

Silence filled the patio as James' mouth dropped open. Neither moved for a couple of minutes then a huge smile broke out across James' face. Laughing joyously, he leapt his feet and pulled Kasumi into his arms, lifting her from the ground, spinning them both in circles. She let out a squeal of excitement as she found herself suddenly airborne then quickly joined him in laughter. Stopping their spin, James lowered Kasumi back to her feet then took her head in his hands and kissed her. It was a deep, passionate kiss. One filled with love and desire that was quickly building into hunger. She kissed him back with equal intensity, her hands running over the hard muscles of his back and shoulders while his found her ass and gave it a squeeze. The fire on the grill was forgotten as the backdoor slammed shut behind them.

Alarms were ringing as dozens of monitors flashed with urgent messages and alerts of incoming emergency notices. At workstations and desktops spread around the room, data pads lay scattered, their screens showing snippets of reports from across the galaxy. In the middle of the room, at a lone computer terminal, an exhausted Asari woman sat reading through the incoming messages, extracting the important bits of information and relaying those quickly out to those who needed that particular piece of information. No matter how quickly she worked however, the messages arrived faster than she could process.

Liara truly was exhausted. Her blue skin had paled some as she had been isolated in her office for weeks, frantically working to stay on top of the ever changing military and political situations. She had lost weight, was sick and the bags under her eyes spoke volumes on her lack of sleep. The war had not yet started, but it was banging on the door. She was determined to make sure her friends had all o the information she could give them.

Liara T'Soni-Allers was the Shadow Broker. The galaxy's top information trader. Taking over the position in secret after she and John Shepard had defeated the former broker, she had used the immense wealth of information and resources available to her to aid in defeating the Reapers. After the war had ended, she was able to use her influence to aid the decimated governments in keeping the peace until their own information networks were reestablished.

As the galaxy restored order, she found more time to pursuit her own interests. Archeology was still her primary interest and after nearly a decade of acting as a spy, she was ready to return to it full time. Using her agents as scouts, she was able to maintain her network of information gathering, but that information now also contained the discovered locations of ancient ruins scattered around the galaxy. As her focus was still on the Protheans, most of the sites were related to their race, however she kept her "eyes and ears" open for rumors or signs of remains from earlier civilizations.

She had a unique in site to some of those rumors through Javik. Though the last Prothean was a soldier, not a scientist, and he had only known war, he had shared with her the stories he did know as well as recreating maps of the Prothean Empire which showed where they had settled. Liara did not have specifics on what she was looking for, but after learning that the Reapers were a product of the Leviathans, she wanted to find out if she could discover more on their culture.

When they learned of Akzunatai, and how he had influenced the creation and evolution of the Leviathans, Liara had doubled her efforts to learn what she could of the elusive species. She had begun to position more agents along the edges of the galaxy, both to explore and to act as an early warning system against Akzunatai's reconnaissance. There had not been much activity regarding Akzunatai, though she had gained some leads on possible Prothean and Leviathan ruins previous unknown. It was not until these recent weeks that her agents began to pay off militarily.

It had begun slowly at first; a sighting of an unknown craft, or a partially intercepted transmission, but within days she was swamped. More and more messages were pouring in and the last twenty-four hours had her struggling to keep up. As Akzunatai's vanguard approached the edges of the Milky Way she knew that this was just the beginning. She also knew that she would need help.

Almost as if in answer to the unspoken plea, the door slid open and three young women entered the room accompanied by the delicious scents of cooked food and fresh coffee. Two of the women were human, one slightly older, but still young, in her early thirties and the other middle twenties. The third was an Asari also still in her twenties. They were of course Liara and Diana's daughters.

The oldest was Leya. Born a few months before the end of the Reaper War, her parents had been killed in the fighting in Australia. She, along with twenty other children, had been rescued by the Australian military evacuating Sydney and taken to a refugee bunker. It was there that the Alliance had found them months later, in poor health, but alive. She had been placed in an adoption program with hundreds of thousands of other displaced children and it was from there that Liara and Diana had adopted her a few years later when she was five. That was the same year the other two women were born.

Both Liara and Diana had chosen to bear children. They had wanted to have children of both genetic make ups, however since Asari only bore Asari children, Diana had become pregnant as well. This was another first for the galaxy, a Human woman bearing an Asari child. As the Asari are all female, they had not had need of another species to bear their children. As with Kris and Samantha's same sex pregnancies, Jardin Solus, Mordin Solus' nephew, found a way to do what was thought impossible. The result was Jaina, a Human-Asari hybrid and her sister, Inala an Asari.

Inala was a typical Asari child: A beautiful girl, light blue skin, and the trademark Asari scalp crests. Even though she was Asari in all ways, she still resembled her human mother Diana in the face and eyes, a resemblance that only grew as she aged. Jaina though was unique in her appearance. While Asari always bore Asari children regardless of the father species, Inala was the expected result. Jaina on the other hand, was not a normal result of procreation. Previously, humans had not successfully given birth to hybrid species, thus as with the Shepard children, Jaina was the first of a new species. Since humans and Asari are outwardly a similar, physically she was normal with a few exceptions. The most obvious was that she was blue. Or blue tinted would be more accurate. Her skin was close to that of her mother's, but a blue tinge could be seen, especially when she blushed. When humans blush, it is their red blood rushing through veins and capillaries that causes their skin to turn red. Asari however have purple blood which makes their blush appear blue or purple depending upon their skin tone. Jaina had inherited the purple colored blood of her Asari mother and as a result, her skin pigment had a slight bluish tinge that darkened when she blushed.

The next most obvious difference was on her head. While she maintained a full head of hair, either side of her head had a single scalp crest. Starting just forward of her ears, and narrower than a normal Asari, the crests arched over her ears to slope down and back to the rear of her head. The rest of her head was covered in the dark brown hair of her human mother. Long and straight it flowed, restrained only by a single tight band pulling it into a ponytail at the back of her head. She too had inherited the biotic abilities inherent to Asari and from what the doctors could tell, their long-life spans as well.

All three women were highly intelligent and well educated with both of their parents placing importance on learning. Leya had gone into social work after college, wanting to help other orphans like herself find a home or at the very least, still have a good life. Even though the Reaper War was long over, and those orphaned long grown into adults, the galaxy still had its share of those needing help. Leya had always considered herself extremely fortunate that she had been saved and wanted to give back what she could. Inala found herself following close in her mother Liara's steps, finding passion in history and archeology, she was currently working on her doctorate in archeology with a focus on pre-historic Quarian civilizations. Jaina was also working on her doctorate, though hers was in biology. She wanted to study mutations and evolution. Inspired largely by her own unique situation and that of her friends, the Shepard children, she wanted to expand upon Jardin Solus' work on interspecies reproduction. She had been accepted into the leading college on Sur'Kesh to study directly under Doctor Solus.

The girls entered the room and looked around at the mess before them. The room itself was not excessively big, after all it was part of the basement of their house, but the space had been well organized. Two of the walls were completely covered in computer consoles and monitors. A desk sitting in front of them created a workstation for Liara to analyze data in comfort. The third wall contained bookshelves and a small wet bar with cabinets for dishes and a warmer for food. Next to the bar, a door led to a restroom. The last wall contained the door the girls had just walked though as well as a work board with articles, and notes pinned to it for quick reference. The only space not given over to the Shadow Broker was a small shelf over the bar. It was upon this that three pictures rested. The first being of Liara and Diana at a park on Earth sometime after the Reaper War. They were obviously in love and smiling happily. The second was of the three girls, taken at the younger siblings' graduation, all three had their arms around each other and were in the middle of laughing at the faces Diana had been making at Liara from behind the camera. The last was of the party that John Shepard had thrown at his apartment during the Reaper War. This was what Liara used to ground herself, remind herself what she was fighting for and to keep her on the righteous path with the power at her command.

The Shadow Broker was indeed powerful. With agents in every government and at all corners of the galaxy, the broker had access to the secrets of the galaxy and with a simple command, could topple entire civilizations. That was the very basis upon which Liara's predecessor had operated. He had used the threat of such action to hold power while buying and selling his information to those he deemed worthy. Liara had admitted on multiple occasions that she could see the appeal to such a power. That was why she had established the shrine. The people in those pictures were who she was fighting for in her own special way. They were also her anchors, the ones that kept her from going too far and too deep. Now, three of them had come to her in person.

"Mom, this is ridiculous. You need to stop and eat something now." Leya spoke in a commanding tone as her mother looked up in surprise at her daughters' sudden arrival. "When Inala told me that you had isolated yourself down here and were refusing to take care of yourself, I first though that she was overreacting. Then both she and Jaina called me and said I needed to come home right away. Luckily, I had plenty of vacation time saved up and I was able to come with little issue. Now that I am here, you are going to stop what you are doing, Inala and Jaina will take over, you will sit down with me and eat and talk to me as a mother. Then you will shower and sleep while we take care of all this."

Liara watched her eldest with wide eyes and a mixture of shock, confusion, and resistance upon her face. Being the eldest by five years, Leya often took the lead in sibling matters. The Asari had a natural order to authority in their society with elders being shown respect and authority until they show they are not worthy of it. Leya, while not an Asari, had been raised in that culture more than a human one and so it had become natural for the younger sister to let Leya lead. When Inala and Jaina had failed to get their mother to listen to them, they called for Leya. It was rare that all three of them would fully agree on something, so for Liara to see all three standing in unity, reason finally broke through her mind.

She stood facing her daughters, mind racing with arguments and the girls posed to counter any protest when the breakthrough finally happened. Her shoulders dropped, she let out her breath and her stomach gave a loud rumble at the smell of cooked food. Lowering her head in shame, Liara placed the data pad she had been holding on the console, moved away from the computers and over to her daughters. Eyes wet with tears as stress and shame flooded her body, she quickly wrapped her arms around Leya, embracing her in a tight hug, before reaching past her to grab at the other two girls, bringing them in close for a long needed group hug.

"I'm so happy you are here sweetheart." Liara began as the other girls began to shed their own tears. "I'm so happy you all are. Thank you for this. I love you all so much."

"We love you too mom." Jaina responded. "But damn. Maybe you should take that shower before eating! How long has it been?"

Three hours later, showered and fed, Liara and Leya were sitting on the couch upstairs watching the sun fade through the curtains while they caught up. Jaina and Inala were still below in the lair, as Liara's office had come to be called, cleaning and sorting through the mess of notes and messages. They would not take action on any until their mom had a chance to look at them and make final decisions, but they were able to start making better sense of a lot of it and prioritize which Liara should address first. Leya had been away from home for a long time. Her sisters understood and gave her and Liara some time alone.

"It really is good to see you Leya." Liara said as they settled themselves on the couch. "It has been far too long since you have been home. I know you are busy with your job, but vids just are not the same."

"I know mom." Came the sullen reply. "After momma Di left on this mission, I had a hard time wanting to be here. I had grown used to her being gone often in pursuit of stories for work, but this is different. I always knew she was coming back before. Now I don't." Leya fell silent. And Liara could hear the pain in her voice. Leya and Diana were close. As a child, Leya had been fascinated by the work Diana did in investigative reporting and for many years, especially through early schooling, both she and Diana thought that a career in journalism was where Leya was headed. Then Diana reported on a slaver gang. That gang had been terrorizing new settlers of all races as they attempted to resettle some of the lost colonies. Thousands of people had been killed and hundreds enslaved by this gang. Eventually, the gang had been cornered, captured, or destroyed. While the threat was over, it was too late for many. The children left orphaned, adults crippled, and left to find their way and lack of resources the Council had to act with, resulted in a massive population of outcasts.

Leya had been seventeen the morning she read that article. It had been twelve years since she herself had been in the same position and with every word she read, images of her past life flooded her thoughts. Her biological parents had been killed by the reapers. Her family destroyed and her life in ruin. Then she had been saved. Suddenly she knew what she wanted to do with her life. She wanted to help those that for whatever reason, the galaxy could or would not. She applied for and was granted an internship with an Asari children's home on Thessia which was the galaxy's largest orphanage and while working there, completed her degree in psychology. Many of her clients had been traumatized and being able to provide them with sound consul and guidance had helped her in setting those people she worked with onto a successful path.

"I miss her too sweetheart." Came Liara's reply. Her own voice was sad and filled with longing. "I do not like thinking about her being away or if she is coming back either. That is why I get obsessed with my work. It helps to block out the thoughts and feelings. At least, it used to. Now, I don't know. We are really in the fight now. It is literally on our borders and they should be nearly to OniThar if not already. Our lives are about to become dangerous, and it scares me.

I know this is not the first war I have been through, but before I did not have a family. I had my friends and people I cared for of course, but they are not my wife, or my daughters. The four of you are my life and my world. Every decision I make I now weigh against how it might affect you. It makes me more determined, but also makes it all more personal. My decisions have faces now." Liara paused. Her eyes lowered to the couch cushions, taking in their subtle patterns of various shades of brown and greys. She had been conflicted about the words she wanted to speak. She had argued with herself for years over them, but in the past few months, she felt her resolve hardening. She looked back at her daughter to find Leya watching her with care and compassion. Liara now saw exactly why Leya was so good at her job. Caring for people and concern over their wellbeing were foremost in her actions. Liara could both see and feel it emanating from her eldest as they sat together. Liara's mind cleared, she took a breath and whispered. "It is time I retired as the Shadow Broker."

Leya nodded in response to her mother's words. They were ones that the whole family had wanted to hear for years. "What will happen to the role if you stop?"

"I do not know. Likely, someone else will assume the position, but it will take time and they will have to start over from scratch. What made the Broker so successful, also makes it fragile. No one knows who the Broker is by design, nor do they know other agents. Each agent was kept isolated, both by the broker and by their own actions. I can mislead them for a long time. Assign the agents to tasks that keep them carrying on normally. It has never been unusual for the Broker to not contact them for months or years at a time. If the process continued, there was not a need. The less contact, the less the risk of exposure. I can use that secrecy to end it. The only hard copies of any part of the Broker's work is in my possession. I can destroy that. Then set up a dummy system to receive the bogus reports, destroying them upon reception. There would be no indication the Broker is not receiving them. At least for a time. By then, the damage will be done. The Broker gone. The uncertainty of what was happening should keep anyone with ambitions to take over unsure and cautious for some time."

"That sounds good mom, but are you sure? I want you out. So do Jaina and Inala, and I know momma Di does also, but are _you_ certain? What happens if the galaxy needs the Broker?"

"The galaxy never needed the Broker Leya." Liara replied to her daughter. "The Broker was created by those wanting power and influence over others. It was just another form of domination for untold years until John and I stopped it. Since then, while it has been a useful tool, the dangers far outweigh the benefits. Within the first few hours of taking over as the Broker I had realized how devastating it could be. I told John as much, but we needed the network against the Collectors and the Reapers. Since then, I have continued to run the network more for my own interests than anything hugely beneficial to the galaxy until recently. Now, it is more redundant than leading. I have done that deliberately in hopes that the day would come when I could stop with a clear mind. I will keep it running through this war, but the day the war ends, so too will the Shadow Broker."

"That is great to hear mom." Jaina spoke as she and Inala entered the room. "It is time for you to live your life for you and momma Di. We are grown and can take care of ourselves. The galaxy can take care of itself too. You already fought one war. When mom comes home, the two of you go have fun. You have earned it, and we want you to be happy." Jaina finished speaking as they joined the sister and mother on the couch. The three girls were smiling as they watched Liara. They had been wanting for years for her to let the Broker go. They had seen how unhappy she had been, how stressed, anxious, and depressed. After Diana had left it had gotten worse.

"Thank you, my loves." Liara said, her voice heavy with grief, she could see the pain that she had put them through and heard the pleading in their voices. "I know that it has been hard on you at times and that I probably suffered as a mother as a result. I am sorry for that."

"No need to apologize mom." Inala responded. "You were a great mother. You were there for us, with us. Sure, sometimes things came up that prevented you from always being available, but so did momma Di, and so it is with every parent. We do not regret what happened in our lives because of you being the Broker. We regret what happened in yours. It has been your life, your happiness and your time that was sacrificed, not ours. You owe the apology to yourself."

Liara was shocked at her daughter's words. She had not thought of it that way before. She had always believed that she had been hurting those around her. Her own pains she had dismissed as meaningless. Suddenly she saw it differently. A warm sensation flooded her body and with it a new resolve filled her. She was making the right decisions. It was time to let the Broker go. It was time to just be Liara, wife and mother. It was her time now. Hers and her family. "My beautiful, smart daughters. I am so very, very proud of you. When did you all become so wise?"

"Mom." Leya replied. "Everything we are is because of you and momma Di. If we are beautiful, smart, and wise, it is because you made us this way. With the two of you as our mother's, we could never be anything else."

The women hugged and tears were in every eye. A change was coming to the T'Soni-Allers family. The future was bright and exciting. They just had to get through a war first.

The clock tower of the administration building at the Shepard Academy offered panoramic views of the Academy grounds that Garrus had always enjoyed. From their he could observe the cadets marching and drilling without them being aware he was watching. It had provided him a different perspective of how their training was progressing and over the years, it had become an invaluable tool that he took advantage of. The grounds below him today however were much different than those in the past with the most obvious being the dozens of ships departing the airfield to join the fleet amassing above Rannoch.

Those ships were the last of the five hundred fighters and dozens of reconnaissance ships that had been constructed at the Academy. Many had departed the day before and the rest had been lifting off in waves every few hours all day. The fighters were all Geth ships, designed for swift and tactical strikes, piloted by Geth who could eject into the vacuum of space and be recovered later if required. This allowed them to carry out what would be considered "suicide runs" to any other race. They were a deadly last resort measure.

Garrus watched as the last of the ships rose through the air, gradually shrinking in size till they disappeared in the bright, blue sky. Before the last ship had lifted off, he found himself no longer alone. A single human female had climbed the stairs to the tower and joined the Turian in his observations. She had walked straight to him and lifting his arm, she maneuvered her body so they were pressed together side-by-side and let rested the taller Turian's arm on her shoulder so his forearm draped across her chest. Garrus smiled and sighed as his wife snuggled close. Snuggled may be the wrong word he thought as the stiff plates of the armor they both war prevented their bodies from touching, but Garrus could smell Ashley's hair as the valley breeze carried her scent to his sensitive nose and he took comfort in that sensation. Tightening his arm, he pulled her against him in a hug.

It was rare that they both got to spend time together in this location. Normally, one of them would be on duty with the cadets and usually when they were both off duty, they were home. Their routine had changed lately though. The entire Academy's had in fact. There were no more Cadets under their watch. All had been promoted early to active duty. They now either stood sentry duty or were resting. The new protocols went into effect only a few days earlier, but they had been preparing for months. In a brief ceremony, the lives of one-thousand cadets changed from theory to reality. Academy uniforms were changed out for armor, training rifles with real and duty shifts now meant patrolling against a real enemy intent on killing them and not drill instructors testing their observation skills.

Across the once familiar landscape where practice targets and obstacle courses once dominated, barricades stood in front of gates that were secured shut and missile batteries swiveled upon armored turrets. Where once instructors barked commands and insults as cadets struggled to overcome their challenges, fearful whispers could be heard when he walked past. Still, spirits and morale were high overall. Many of the former cadets were young, green, and never seen war. They were excited and ready to prove themselves. While fears were whispered in the dark, shouts and cheers rose during the day.

Garrus was a soldier to the core. Ashley was the same. Both born and raised before joining and living a military life. This was what they knew, what they lived and what their futures were. Retirement would only come when old age made them feeble or death in battle claimed them. Both had made their peace with this. They knew what was coming. They knew what their odds were. Fears were a given, but neither showed them. They were leaders and they would lead by example. Tonight, they would talk, as they did most nights together in bed, where only the darkness could hear and see their worries, troubles, and insecurities. Here at the academy, even high up in the tower, they knew they could be seen and therefore, as the couple watched the last of the ships fade into the Rannoch skies, they showed nothing but confidence and steadfast resolve.

Garrus Vakarian and Ashley Williams, two of the famed Normandy Crew, were far more than mere drill instructors to those within the Academy walls. They were heroes. Legends. Symbols of power and hope. They were also in charge of the Academy. James had been called to lead the ground troops the Academy had provided, those who had already graduated yet were still stationed there for various reasons, and as such would be in the midst of battle away from the Academy grounds. That left the Academy's defense to Garrus and Ashley and the one thousand cadets under their command. Not a command either took lightly under normal circumstances, they now played a vital role in upcoming war.

The Shepard Academy was always intended to be more than just a galactic special force training command. When Rannoch was resettled after the Reaper War and the Capital, Val'Shan founded, The Quarians knew that they would need protection as well as alliances in rebuilding their civilization. Out of those early talks came the Academy, and with it, a powerful shield to the newborn city. Placed alongside the river, Ril Azhana with its rear to the great sea, Solom Azhana and its remaining side to the valley's steep cliffs, its tall walls and taller towers commanded control of the valley floor.

Within those walls was the vast complex of the training facility as well as the experimental division that had established itself as the leading developer in ship design and interstellar communications. As such, it contained not only one of the most powerful long-range communications towers, but also the largest airfield on Rannoch. Both would be crucial in the coming war and it was those that made the defense of the Academy a heavy weight upon the Turian and his Human wife.

None of this was why Garrus had climbed the tower this day. At least not the main reason. Hours away, at the edge of the galaxy where the fleet was massing, were his two sons. He and Ashley had adopter two kids after the war. One Human, Richard and the other Turian, Braxus. Both born in 2187 during the Reaper war, they were now in their thirties and serving aboard Quarian military ships. Like their parents, they were both excellent soldiers, moving through the ranks rapidly and deservedly from enlisted grunts to both making Lieutenant in the past year. They were strong, intelligent, and well-liked by their peers. They had a bright future ahead of them. Garrus hoped it was not about to end prematurely.

He and Ashley both knew the costs the military demanded. They did not fear it, but they respected it. It was not a life for everyone. Not a cost everyone was willing to pay. They were. They had seen it firsthand in their friends, family, and comrades. They knew that every mission could be the one their own ticket was punched. They knew, and they went anyway. It was who they are. It was who their sons are. That did not stop Garrus from worrying. He was a father. Those were his children. He worried for them.

Ashley's thoughts were the same as her husbands. That was one of the things that she loved about their relationship; they did not have to speak to know what the other was thinking. They were both socially awkward with personal things and yet, they fully understood each other. It had taken time. Years in fact as ingrained biases had to be broken and minds opened before they could finally see what was in front of them. Each other. Ashley slid her arm around Garrus' waist, wishing they were not wearing armor and that her pistol was not putting pressure on her hip as it was smashed between her thigh and his.

"Tali called." She spoke in a quiet voice. "She and John invited us to dinner tonight. James and Kasumi will be there also."

"Final meal before battle?"

"Something like that. I guess." She replied

"What time?"

"In about an hour. That is one of the reasons I came to find you."

"What was the other?"

"I just wanted to be with you. I do not think we will have too many more opportunities for quiet, alone time after tonight. I wanted to get in some before it was too late." Ashley sighed and leaned even more into Garrus' body, at least as much as the armor allowed. "I love you, Garrus."

"I love you too, Ash." Garrus replied. He did not think he had ever spoken more truer words in his life.

From a cave in the side of a low mountain range, they watched the ship descend through the OniThar atmosphere, rapidly diving toward the cover provided by this arm of the great volcanic range that fenced in Akzunatai's main fortress. Formed ages ago when Akzunatai had first come to OniThar and set the continent ablaze with his rage, the mountains had long since cooled, the forests grown back, if not as majestic as they once had been, and the waters in the rivers and lakes that dotted the landscape were no longer poisoned. The native wildlife had returned and from an outside perspective, one would not know that this was a planet at war.

Keeping out of site, but where they could see all, the two LiThar watched the strange ship vanish beneath the tree canopy and go silent. For several moments they remained frozen in place, watching where the ship vanished before looking at each other with surprise and worry mirrored in each other's face. Retreating into the rear of the cave, they quickly woke and explained to their two other companions what they had seen. Weapons were passed out, packs with food and supplies shouldered and all four LiThar went racing down the mountain. One pair raced away from the ship while the other went toward the spot where it had landed. Anxiety gripped them. Curiosity drove them forward. Nothing had been normal the past year on OniThar. Now, another change was happening. Good or bad, they would just have to wait and see.


End file.
